What's Love Got To Do With It
by Lovin'Spoonfuls
Summary: With having so many dead end relationships in the past, follow Kevin, as he finally meets the one girl he's been waiting for... T. Due to language, and some mild adult situations... Nothing too racey... I couldn't do that... Just.. No..
1. Chapter 1

What is love?

A physical emotion that some beings, human, or alien, have never really truly experienced in their life time. It can be a deep, and wonderful experience in life. Or, it can be the cruelest of beasts, and torture your very soul if given the chance. Example A of such a monster? Let's try for instance, the scenario of: "You may love somebody with all your heart, who just might not love you back, or, visa versa. Another scenario of it being on the highlighted side of things? Example B, "It can change your life… For the better, and you can actually live in happiness, and grow together as something quite special."

It can be cruel though.. Just as it's been written prior… It can be a torturous feeling, for both parties involved, regardless of the situation.

Love, to certain people, can be a total waste of their time, and love, can also be _worth_ the individual's time, if given the chance with the right person to try and make things work. Guess it all depends on how they head into the challenging game of relationships in the first place.

Yes… A game… People just need to learn, and master those skills to achieve that victorious goal, or outcome.…

Kevin Levin on the other hand, never believed in love. Hell, he's been through enough relationships in the past five years to know. Girls, would come and go, and so far, none of them were anything remotely serious. Sure, a few one nightstands here and there. But not enough of them to amount on counting onto one hand, or ones that were even worth trying to brag and boast to the guys about. Basically, the ex-con had given up on the whole love thing in general a long while ago.

Love at first sight? "Puh-Lease.."

Being in love? "Never gonna happen."

Having a relationship? "What a waste of my time and money. I'm better off on my own." He'd tell Ben Tennyson. His friend of the last five years. Ben had always been the optimist on trying to get Kevin in something more serious. Something that maybe would eventually stick. Something like what he and Julie had, and still have.

But…

No such luck. Kevin was done. If the forces at hand wanted him to be with someone so bad, then, those said forces will send him somebody worthy of his time.

And ,at this point?

The man had his doubts…. It was obvious, that Kevin didn't have the best of luck in the whole love and relationship department, and his best friend wasn't making things easier with his situation by trying to set him up on stupid blind dates all the time.

One said disaster, blind date number one hundred and blah, blah, blah….

Bethany…. The so called smart, intelligent blond bomb shell, that Ben supposedly said had blue eyes that sailed the skies for days on end, and a body of a goddess to boot…

Kevin figured out in the end though, that she and her so called beautiful eyes,were more like pools of swamp water that smelled for days on end, and….

She still had the body of a goddess. A goddess named Broom-hilda. A Goddess of the many brainless…

Makes no sense right? Well, to Kevin it sounded just as honest, and quite frankly, more of a fact to him than fiction.

She was irritating, and most annoying, a not so delicate of a creature who wanted nothing more than his attention twenty four seven. Seriously, Kevin was all about hanging out with her at the time and all. But, when he couldn't even use the bathroom without her telling him how to use the facility….

Okay, so, maybe he exaggerated a bit again. But, who cares. He just couldn't tolerate her anymore.

So.. The sad part of this story was, was that she worked at the same auto garage as the dark haired man. He absolutely hated that. Every day he'd show up, and every day, she'd try to get him to go out with her. Rubbing on his arms in such a fashion that wanted to make his skin crawl. The plus side of her though, was that she held a very sweet, pleasant, and seductive type voice, which in fact he did admit, he liked, but, the girl was a freaken moron.

It was just as simple as that.

When Kevin strolled into the garage for his daily work schedule, naturally the blond girl was there. Smiling ever so sweetly, while batting her big blue eyes toward him, in her own twisted way of what she considered was her miraculous, flawless, you can never turn me down flirting.

"Hey, Kevy." Bethany drawled out, as she leaned over the counter, letting her low cut shirt hang down, showing off her healthy like cleavage.

Kevin could only roll his eyes at her sad, and desperate attempts of gaining his undivided attention. "Hey." He mumbled as he quickly tossed her efforts aside, sitting down on the board looking thing with wheels, sliding himself under the vehicle that he had to work on and finish up that day, by the Boss's orders.

Bethany quickly wonders over to the other side of the garage where Kevin had began working. He couldn't see the scowl that displayed upon her face, it wasn't a secret by any means, that the girl was definitely not happy that he was deliberately denying her flirtatious intentions.

"Where were you last night?" Bethany leaned down, putting her face underneath the car slightly, so she could at least try and talk the man face to face. "I tried calling you here, but Bob said you had "other matters" to attend to." She quoted, using her fingers.

"None of your business." Kevin heatedly replies back. Not at all amused with Bethany's nosey like behavior, as he absent mindedly picks up a wrench that was conveniently lying next to him. He wasn't going to tell her what he did at night, after the sun went down, after it got dark. Psh. Like the girl would believe him anyways. Really... Fighting aliens and saving the entire world with Ben Tennyson almost every night, didn't seem that believable of a story to tell in the first place. Truth, or not, she'd only laugh in return at him anyways. Besides, as if he really wanted to add _that_ of all things onto the list of her annoyances. So far, it was freaken endless already in his eyes…

The blond headed girl, shifts her hair back behind her shoulders. Rolling her eyes at Kevin's attitude towards her. She brushes it off anyways, and continues on, trying to make Kevin cave into her demands of another relationship.

"Well" She smiles down at him. "I just figured that, well, ya know, if you weren't busy tonight that-"

"Look, Beth." Kevin heavily sighs, as he puts more pf a serious tone upon his voice, not skipping a beat, trying to work on the car he was under, hoping that Bethany would someday get the hint that he wasn't even close to being interested in her anymore. " I've gotta a lot of work to do. So go find some other jerk who's worth more of your time to hit on. I'm not interested. We had a go, it didn't work, and the way I see it, it won't ever work." Finally, Kevin was going to let her down easy, leaving these lasting impressionable words. " No, scratch that." He grins darkly to himself. "_Your _notworth my time."

That did it. Bethany was suddenly on the verge of tears, holding them back, she simply lets out a heated huff, before she stood up from the bright red broken vehicle. "_Bastard_." She growled out towards him, while quickly making her way back to the counter."And it's Bethany." She looks back over her shoulder. "Only my friends are aloud to call me Beth." She tried to retort, in a half broken defense.

"Okay." Kevin's voice echoed from under the car, showing that he could care less. "Fair enough. Like I said…"

"Save it, Levin." Bethany hissed. "I get it. Fine. Whatever." Was all the girl could finally say, before the phone began to ring, forcing the young woman to go and actually do the job she was paid hourly to do. Making the ending result being a one very happy, and relieved Kevin Levin.

**_LOVE... LOVE... LOVE..._**

It was late. The garage finally closing for the night, and Kevin was just sitting in solitude, enjoying his peace and quiet. Both alien, and bless the lord, of course if Kevin ever believed in such a thing, Bethany free.

Until…

"Hey Kevin."

Kevin's eyes automatically roll in response to the familiar voice filling the garage's empty space he was so appreciating only seconds earlier. The man didn't say anything to his friends greeting, so, Ben continued.

"Some fight we had last night, huh?" He tried to laugh off, as he found the empty spot on the chair next to the raven haired ex con, sitting down, leaning back slightly for a little more comfort, as silence filled the air around them once more.

"We got another mission or somethin', Ben?" Kevin finally spoke, looking slightly irritated.

"Nope." Ben replied. Keeping his answer short and sweet.

"You broke somethin' and you need me to fix it, because your to useless to fix it yourself." The man said, insulting his friend in the process, while getting up from his chair, heading towards the work bench, as he began putting more of his tools away. Break time was evidently over..

"Nooooo…" The hero drawls out, as if he were avoiding the subject at hand.

"Then get to the point before I throw this hammer at you." Kevin threatened, showing Ben the hammer, proving that he may or may not hesitate on pitching the said object towards the younger hero's head.

"Okay, okay!" Ben cried out, shifting his arms up by his face, half expecting the older man to just wing it at him regardless of his short and half lame defense. "Okay..." He sighs. "So, there's this girl."

"Ben." Kevin heavily breathes out, immediately turning himself around to face his friend, leaning against the workbench he'd been working at, while folding his arms in annoyance. "I swear to god, if this is another blind date.."

"No, nothing like that!" He blurts out, shaking his head at the thought of the Kevin Levin going on yet another blind date of his. Ben had lost a lot of friends recently that way. Most of the contacts to the most previous girls, where either their brother's , and or cousins. Most though, just quit hanging out with Ben, or, Ben just left them, due to their horrible threats towards him… Many of those said friends wanting to hurt him…

Badly…

So, in other words, Ben just finally gave up. If Kevin wanted a girlfriend, he'd have to find one on his own. The younger boy was done with the set ups. For good.

"Then get to the point." Kevin quickly said, starting to lose his patience with our hero, and savior of the entire universe.

"Okay. So, Grampa said a while back that we needed more teammates, or plumbers to help us with our recent missions-"

"Uh-huh." Kevin interrupts. "So."

"So." Ben smiles in amusement. "I happen know somebody."

"Oh yeah, Mr. Hot shot? Like who?" Kevin teased, while bringing that signature grin of his upon his face. "Last I heard, your recent "contact funds" where surprisingly low."

"Yeah, no thanks to you." Ben glared back. Furrowing his brow in disappointment.

"What can I say. I work in mysterious, and wonderous ways sometimes." Kevin chuckles, standing upright from his recent leaning position. "When you hang out with me? You get nothing but the best of the best... So." He pauses for a moment, waiting for Ben to continue.

"So. As I was saying." Ben breathes out, happy that Kevin had finally shut his big mouth for once in his life, without too many abusive words coming out towards him. "I have this cousin, and she's pretty amazing."

**Okay. Let me know what you think of this new story. Reviews are wonderful, and appreciated! It lets me know if this story is worth the read or not. :D**

**Laughs to the people, **

**The Spoon. :D**


	2. Chapter 2

The cool air pierced at the skin of two particular figures riding in the shadows of the early morning dark. Paying no mind however, to the harsh cold bitter feeling they were receiving, as they began slipping in and out of the deepest corners of the nearest building that had surrounded them. Ben, was first to stop at the last angled grey indentation of the solid rock hideout.

Slowly bringing his view around the said corner, making sure that no one was coming out the shadows, Ben, finally spoke. "Okay." He whispered, as he held up his left arm, signaling for his comrade to stop where he was. "This is it, the castle that Grandpa said the deal was supposedly taking place at."

Kevin nodded silently in response, while absorbing the stern rock next to him as cover, just in case their stealth like abilities failed. Rounding around Ben, he heads toward the direction of the lowest window of the mid-evil like building, peering in, trying to find out what, or who, they were about to come up against.

"Laser Lances." Kevin simply said, after only seconds of looking inside.

"What?" Ben whispered back, walking up beside his teammate, peeking inside the building as well.

"It's just a simple tech deal." Kevin grins darkly, as he points into the window they were now both looking into. "Man. Forever Knights sure aren't that creative on being evil, are they?" He snickers under his breath, as he shrugs his shoulders. "Should be an easy take down."

"Yeah, that's what you said the last time." Ben huffs under his breath, keeping his voice down to a dull whisper. "And we had _both_ our butts handed to us that night too. We barely made it out alive!"

"Any fight you can walk away from." Kevin smiled, as he kept his eyes piercing into the nearby window. "Looks like there's about ten Knights, and one, maybe two buyers." He said, as he crouched down, almost sitting under the glass covered opening, while Ben, naturally followed suit. "Like I said. Easy."

"But that doesn't mean there isn't more bad guys in the other four hundred rooms of the castle either, Kevin." Ben warned as he began clicking the dial that was located on his right arm, searching for the correct alien to do the job. "It's now or never, I guess." He sighs.

"Yep." Kevin said, getting in the ready for the attack. "So, how do we wanna go about it this time?"

"Attack of surprise always seems to work in our favor." Ben wickedly grins back at the ex-con standing next to him, as he pushes the dial button down onto his wrist, while making the air around them in return glow into a bright green flash of light. "CANNONBOLT!" The alien chimed out into the cool, star lit air.

Rolling himself into a tight ball, Cannonbolt forcefully rammed into the entry way, knocking the large heavy door of the castle down, with Kevin running soon after, right on the alien's heals'.

Upon the Knights hearing the door of their beloved home being destroyed, they immediately began to open fire, causing Kevin to abruptly duck behind some large crates that were located just to the left of him.

Cannonbolt though, showed no signs of slowing down, the lasers blasting out from all sides of the room, were just bouncing off the massive alien's thick outer shell, making some of the red beamed bullets ricochet into nearby adjacent walls.

"Get the big rollie pollie one!" The leader of the knights shouted out, ordering his followers to stop the destructive beast that was ultimately destroying their once, beautiful castle.

While some of the lasers had stopped firing, Kevin took the open opportunity, and made his way through a few Forever Knights, dropping most, dead in their tracks by his fists' of rock alone. Letting out a deep battle cry, Kevin began to run over to where Ben was. It looked as though the hero was being overrun by the evil bad guys dressed in tinfoil. The hero had been right, every time they'd make some head way, more, and more Knights seemed to be crawling out of practically nowhere.

Finally, Kevin made his way to his friend's side. "Where did they all come from!" He shouted, as his fist collided with yet another hard metallic face.

"I told you they were like rats!" Cannonbolt grinned, as he rolled over five more Forever Knights that stood in his path. "You never seem to wanna to listen to me!"

"Well, someday, I just might." Kevin retorted, slamming more silver covered bad guys against the floors and walls of the building they were now fighting in. "Because _this?_" He raises his arms in a gesture. "Is freaken ridiculous!"

While Kevin was distracted for a moment, a bright red laser beam struck him in the chest, sending the poor man through a rock solid wall just across the way, knocking the wind and him, completely out.

Kevin had gone down….

**FIGHT. FIGHT. FIGHT.**

"Hey." A voice echoed into the ears of the fallen Osmosian, his eyes began to flutter open, then, shutting themselves closed over and over again, as the word, "hey" continued to fill into the deep dark caverns leading up into the inside of his throbbing head.

"Hey yourself." Kevin mumbled into the air as he slowly made his way to the sitting position, wincing at the pain that suddenly crawled up to his pain ridden skull.

"You going to make it?" Ben smiled, as he was trying to keep his laughter at the man at bay. "You took quite a hit back there."

"Yeah… My head confirms it." Kevin simply replied back, glaring at the younger hero next to him. "Remind me next time to invest in a helmet or something."

"Funny." Ben chuckles to himself, while helping Kevin to his feet. "My cousin used to say that to me all the time when we were kids. I never listened though…" He sheepishly rubs the back of his head, squinting one of his eyes. "Kind of explains a lot actually."

"Don't start." Kevin growled out, while he dusted the dirt off that collected on his pants from the recent impact that he had with the ground minutes earlier.

"Start what?" Ben asked incredulously, not sure as to why Kevin was suddenly lashing out at him for no good reason. It was just a silly childhood memory of his, nothing more. He liked reliving those days. Some were actually simpler times to him, and most of the time, Ben missed them.

Dearly…

Kevin swiftly waves his hand in the air dismissively. "The whole cousin thing your doin'. We've discussed this."

Ben's brow furrowed in annoyance with his friend. "No. We didn't. You basically just said "not going to happen", and you left it at that." He folds his arms over his chest heatedly. "There was no _discussion_ ever involved here."

"Exactly." Now, it was Kevin's turn to fold his arms in anger. "We already have a ton of people to call upon if we ever need it." He starts to strum the list of names off his fingers a bit too harshly, while collecting said helpers through his mind in thought. "We've got Manny, Helen, Cooper, and Pierce… And don't forget your Gra-"

"Only if their available!" Ben shouts out, interrupting his comrade, finally losing his patience with the dark haired man. The hero was tired of going nowhere with the subject at hand. He was bound and determined to get Kevin to go along with adding another team member. Come hell or high water, it was going to happen, whether the ex-con liked it or not.

Taking in a shallow breath, he continues. "They have their own missions to deal with right now. Most, off planet. They just can't leave some important project their involved in to come and help us, we've tried that idea. It didn't work out." He pauses for a moment, and sighs, while resting a now calmer hand upon his hip. "Like it or not, Kevin, we need her, and you know it."

Kevin stares intently at the ground below him. Ben was right. How much longer before they'd get into some serious trouble that they wouldn't be able to work themselves out of? He knew… He knew the risks they were taking on every mission they went on without that extra teammate working by their side. Hell, he'd experienced it firsthand again this morning when he got knocked out cold by going through a couple feet of solid rock wall…

And he'd tell you that it hurt like a bitch too… It was a simple clarification on his part. Kevin's head wasn't telling him otherwise.

"Fine." Kevin finally whispers out toward his friend.

"I'm sorry?" Ben replied. Not clear as to if he'd heard Kevin correctly or not.

"I _said_-" The man stops for a short second, taking in a deep breath from the cool midnight air, almost as if in defeat, while running his calloused fingers through his raven haired locks. "Fine."

Ben smiles back in return, while laying a hand on Kevin's shoulder. "Thanks, Kevin. We need all the help we can get." Taking his hand back off Kevin's shoulder, he begins to head over to his parked car just across the way of the half destroyed Forever Knights' castle. He then chuckles to himself, bringing the raven haired man's hard like gaze up from the ground below. "Ya know? It's a good thing you agreed with me this time."

"Yeah? Why's that? Kevin's aksed curiously, while raising a brow.

"Because, she'll be here in three days." Kevin's jaw instantly drops, causing Ben to laugh a bit harder under his breath at the sight of the man's sudden actions with his gaping mouth. "Don't worry." He shrugs, already knowing what Kevin was thinking. "You'll like her. Trust me. She gets along with pretty much everybody she meets."

Kevin, in return, just rolls his eyes at the hero in response.

**LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.**

"So.." Ben sighs heavily into the phone. He'd been talking with his cousin for the last thirty minutes, trying to get the exact time schedule on her arrival. He's was more excited than he let on with her returning to Bellwood. She had been taking college courses for the last six years, and now, she had finally graduated with her master's degree in psychology, and with a minor's in physics. Ben couldn't be more happier with her accomplishments.

"_So, I should be there in like, two days, Ben. No sense in rushing these_ _things ya know…"_ She mumbles, huffing under her breath. _"Same old_ _Ben. Nothing ever changes."_

"Admit it. You missed me."

"_Yes. I missed you. Just.. Not your stupidity. That's all."_

"Gee… Thanks." Ben said, rolling his eyes at her through the phone. "Not sure if I even _want _you to come back now."

"_Ben?"_

"Yeah."

"_Just shut up." She lets out a small giggle. "I'm coming back to torture you, whether you like it or not. So.. Deal with it."_

"And I wouldn't have it any other way."

Ben suddenly heard a loud clanking noise coming from his cousin's side of the phone.

"_Oh no." _ She sighed heavily into Ben's ear.

The hero grips the phone tighter to the side of his face. Remembering back in the day, of what they used to deal with when they were younger, it wouldn't surprise the hero any if she were under an alien attack of some kind. Both her and Ben had made quite the enemies in their past, and now, with what him and Kevin deal with in the present time, it wouldn't take much for the bad guys, slash, villains to seek out both sides of family members, and take them out, the thought alone, scared the hero to death, knowing this important piece of information. It was just common knowledge, for a hero to know such things.

Of course, he also knew, the girl could hold her own, and take care of herself.

"Is everything alright?" Ben asked, maybe a bit too eagerly into his cell, forcing him to stand upright on habit.

"_Yeess…"_ She hissed into the phone, slamming one of her fists into the steering wheel in a heated fashion. If Ben could only see her face, he'd know that she was evidently rolling her eyes at his frantic like gesture. _"My car, I think it just died on me, Ben."_

"Do you want me to come and get you? Cause you know I can." Ben smiled into the device that sat snugly against his ear.

"_Not necessary. Really."_ She sighs heavily once more. _"There's a small town just up ahead. I'm sure there's gotta be someone who can help me."_

"You sure?" The hero askes the girl on the other line, making sure that she was truly alright. "All's it takes is one hit on the dial, and-"

"_**Good bye**__, Ben. I'll see you in a couple days. Less than that, if you stop bugging the crap out of me, by calling me every ten seconds."_

"Alright, alright." Ben brings up his free hand in mock defense. "I'll see you soon… Oh, and, hey."

"_Yeah?"_

"Just.. You know… Be careful. Okay?"

"_Always.. Bye, Ben."_

"Bye."

Little did Ben know, his cousin be showing up sooner than she origionally told him. She had also learned back in college, of how to be a professional liar.

Well, if the situation deemed worthy of a lie of course, she would never hesitate on using it.

**LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.**

Kevin headed to the garage as he usually did after a normal morning, or evening, depending on how those missions fell that day, of fighting off the bad guys. Injury or not, his day moved better without a stupid, pointless pity party anyways. The best part of his day so far though, was that Bethany had taken the week off. Bob, had called him personally, and simply said, "Figured you'd appreciate the call buddy." Kevin smiled to himself in relief. Finally, a quiet day. No annoyances involving her, with her flirting, and her touching, and not to mention her big "busty" advancements.

Pun intended now mind you.

Pushing those aggravating thoughts aside, Kevin grabbed the tools off the workbench and got right to work. Nothing calmed the man down more than working on cars. He loved it. If he wasn't intent with his intergalactic workings as well, he'd totally do this full time. To him, car maintenance hardly ever seemed like "work" at all.

Forever Knights, and kicking bad guy's butts.. Now _that_, was work.

Rubbing his smarted head at the thought of what just transpired only hours ago, he rolls himself back under the red broken down impala he'd began working on yesterday. Bringing the wrench to a loose bolt that needed tightening, a short shuffling like noise coming just outside of the large, opened garage door, caused Kevin to stop in midstride.

Sensing no immediate danger, Kevin then realized that it was probably just another customer coming into the shop too early, thinking that since the door was open, the shop must have been too, not knowing the stores hours. Putting the wrench back up onto the loose bolt, Kevin simply bellows out, "Look. We're not open yet. Come back in an hour."

"Oh… I'm sorry." The person sighed, almost sounding like they were disappointed, but at the same time, caught off guard with the man's deep husky like voice suddenly jetting out from underneath the vehicle that sat in front of them. "It's just that, my cars' broken down, like a mile from here. So.. I was _hoping_ that maybe you could help me?"

Kevin's eyes looked out from the space just underneath the car he was working on, and all the raven haired man could see, were dark black stiletto high heels, and the most _sexy_ looking pair of legs that he had ever seen, that, and in his opinion, legs that seemed to carry on endlessly, for days on end…

And all Kevin could do at that moment in time, was stare…

**Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far! I love em, love em, love em!**

**I hope you enjoyed this installment as well. :D**

**Please review!**

**Laughs to the people,**

**The Spoon. :D**


	3. Chapter 3

"Um… Hello?" Gwen asked worriedly, while bending down slightly, trying to get a peek at the auto repair guy, who was for some reason, still hidden beneath the shadows of the broken down car. "Are you still alive under there?" She smiled to herself, half joking, as she began poking her head under the small space between the shiny red vehicle, and the cool garage flooring.

Kevin shook his head a bit, trying to bring himself back to reality, realizing then, that the girl had poked her head down at him. "Uh…" He choked, half swallowing the thick saliva that had recently filled up in his throat. For some strange reason, Kevin had a hard time pushing as to one simple word out towards her.

Gwen let out a short, snorty giggle. "Well, I guess you still are." She pauses for a moment and continues. "So, like I said before, my car had broken down not too far from here, and I was wondering if you could help me."

On that note, Kevin slowly rolls his way out from underneath the large, clunky project that hovered over him during most of the morning, making his "early riser" customer move slightly out of his way. Bringing himself up to the sitting position, he slides one of his calloused hands through his black midnight locks, roughing them up just enough to push back the hair from his eyes. "Um, yeah." He coughs, clearing his throat, while getting himself up off the cement floor. "Just.. Let me wipe the grease off my hands, okay?"

"Sure." The woman sweetly replies, keeping that beautiful smile of hers, upon her rose bitten lips.

Kevin smiles back at her as he headed over to the workbench, grabbing the blackened, stained white rag, rubbing his hands, getting most of the smudge of oil, and grease off. "So, how far did you say your car was?" He asked, setting the towel back down, while grabbing some extra tools, and a bottle of car fluid.

"Take a left, and it's just about a mile from here. " Gwen answered back, rolling her eyes at him, slightly annoyed. She had already told him several times that morning as to how far her car had been from the garage. "_God, wasn't he listening to a word I_ _was saying to him_?" She thought to herself heatedly, letting out a soft incoherent sigh.

"Right." Kevin replies, noticing the young woman's sudden fall in attitude. "Sorry, I forgot that you mentioned that part already." He sheepishly laughs, while rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "Okay then. Let's go see what's wrong with your piece of a crap ca-" Noticing immediately on Gwen's heated like glare towards him, he recovers himself quickly. "I mean, to see what's wrong with your _reliable _car." He corrected, leading the girl out from the auto shop's door way. Gwen though, simply huffs a little under her breath while following in toe, causing the dark haired man to smile at her again, but, she began to find that she really didn't mind his quirky grin at all. It was quite different, and…. Kind of cute actually.

_**CAR. CAR. CAR. CAR.**_

As they began to walk down the road toward the girl's vehicle, Kevin couldn't help but watch her a bit as they traveled along the warm black asphault. Her hair was such a beautiful bright shade of red, and not to mention, incredibly long. He liked long hair on a girl himself. To him, it was such a shame when most of them would cut off their gorgeous, voluptuous hair… It was such a waste in his opinion. He figured that every guy in the world loved running their fingers through a girl's hair from time to time_. "Okay.. Starting to sound kind of creepy there Kev."_ He said to himself, rolling his eyes at how the whole thing sounded inside his head. Trying to put such a thought out of his mind, it was at that moment when Kevin realized just how the sun of the early morning light, caused her hair to change ever so slightly with even the smallest amounts of movement she made. He was amazed with the fact that every single strand of her hair, seemed to have its' own shade of crimson.

Gwen, though, felt him staring at her. So, she quickly turned to him, and smiled, catching Kevin off guard. "Like what you see?" She asked, getting right to the point, making the man next to her, blush a deep bright red.

"Wha-.. Um… Ah.. _What_?" Kevin mumbled, tripping over his own words, and his feet, while at the same time hating himself for not being careful enough with his "mooning" over the girl.

"Wow…" The red head lets out a short, heavy giggle. "Not good at hiding you're silent flirtatious intentions are you?" She points a finger of amusement at him, while folding her arms over her chest, as she brought a sly, knowing smile upon her face. Both persons had stopped walking at this point.

"_What?_ Puh-leeze." Kevin snorted back, trying desperately to hide his embarrassing mistake. "Don't flatter yourself. I was merely making a silent observation." He simply shrugs, dismissing her accusations against him.

"Oh really?" Gwen replies, raising a curious brow, while taking a few steps forward again, with Kevin following automatically with the motions. "Enlighten me then, on your profound observations, Mr. Professional of the human persona."

"Okay." Kevin simply shrugs once more, while bringing that sinister like grin of his upon his previous stony like features, causing Gwen to smile back at him in the return. "Let's start with your clothes shall we?" He chuckled, eying the red head at first, waiting for her to make a comment on the subject he decided to start with, but, when there wasn't a retort against it, he continued. "The length of your skirt suggests that you're afraid to show even the _slightest_ bit of skin. Judging by how stuffy your shirt looks at the same time, confirms my first observation... Two? Your hair tells me-"

"My _hair_?" Gwen deadpans, interrupting the man, while bringing a delicate hand on to the top of her head. "Okay, I can see why you think maybe my clothes are a bit stuffy and all, but that doesn't mean-"

"Ssh!" Kevin breaths out, interrupting her right back. "I'm not done."

Gwen's eyes widened on his sudden boldness, but, kept quiet all the same, and decided to let the man continue, totally against the gut feeling she was having on the whole subject of her being picked apart, especially by someone she barely knew no less.

"Your hair is perfect. Not a strand or stray of it, out of place. Which also tells me that you're a perfectionist, and hate it when certain things don't go your way." He pauses, pointing a finger in the air, proving a point. "And I also get the feeling that you dislike certain things being out of place most of the time… It's like you can't stand a little mess here and there." He finishes, smiling even wider at the girl, finding her expression quite amusing at the moment.

Gwen had stopped walking all together, her mouth hanging wide open. She didn't say anything to stress the fact that he might have been totally and utterly wrong with everything that he had just said. Which was making the man smile smugly even more at her, leaving a moment of more silence for him to continue.

"You also hate being wrong too." Kevin finishes, still finding the girl quite amusing, and… Kind of adorable actually.

At that last blow, Gwen had finally found her voice, though, slightly hoarse, she spoke on. "That's, just…" She huffs, glaring at him in a heated anger. "Just, ridiculous!" She said, now flaring her arms in the air in exasperation. "You may _think _you know me. But your seriously way off."

"Am I?" Kevin laughs under his breath, as they finally got closer to her car that was almost in plain sight just past the stop sign. "Then tell me princess, what _did_ I get wrong?"

Gwen mumbles something incoherent under her breath at first, waving the most stupidest discussion in her life time so far, off, with a swift flick of her wrist. "Forget it. Were here."

"Just provin' the fact that I'm totally right then." Kevin remarks, still letting a small chuckle escape his forever smirking lips.

"No." Gwen sighs, leaning up against her car, while staring angrily at the ground below her tall stiletto heels. "It's just that, well, I have more important things to do today, than hang around with _you_ all afternoon, that's all."

Ouch…

That one stung Kevin, deeply. Here he thought they were actually getting along, making nice conversation, and then she went and pulled out several insults all in one demeaning sentence. Kevin glared at her, but she didn't notice. Gwen was too involved in her own frustrations with the ex-con to even realize that he was upset.

"Fine." Kevin growled out, making his way to the hood of the car. If she wanted to keep everything strictly business, and all professional like? He had no problems with that. "_Besides._" He thought to himself. "_She liked getting her way anyways. Why let it change now?"_ Kevin lifted the hood of her car, the noise having abruptly brought the girl out of her own self pity like trans, forcing the red head to look at the man straight in the face. Seeing his stony like scowl, she then recognized that she had maybe been slightly unfair to him. Walking up slowly, she lets her jaw drop open, in the ready to give him a sincere apology.

Kevin though, beat her to the open window of getting any word out edge wise. "Your engine is over heated." He said, roughly slamming the hood down, causing Gwen to jump at the sound. "When was the last time your car had an oil change, or for that matter, oil put in it at all?"

"Um.." She began, staring back, blankly at her car. "I.. I don't really kn-"

"Doesn't matter." Kevin heavily sighs, disrupting the red head's train of thought. "I'll have Bob, my boss take a look at it later." He finally turns to her while keeping a stern look about his face. "I'm sure that he'd be more than happy to help you."

With that, Kevin started to walk away from the girl, his head keeping low to the ground in disappointment. He was really starting to like her. She seemed smart,

full of whit, and much, much more. Kevin didn't tell her the "other" observations he had collected just by walking that short mile with her. Why would he? To get more embarrassed than he already was? No way.. Never, in a million years would he let that part of his guard down. It was probably better this way anyways. The girl seemed to be way out of his league to begin with.

"Gwen." The woman suddenly said, bringing Kevin out of his deep train of thought.

"Excuse me?" He asked, turning himself around to look at the girl standing behind him.

As Kevin turned, Gwen quickly placed one hand behind her back, while her free hand began to play coyly with one stray strand of her crimson red mane. "My name." She smiled. "My name is Gwen."

"Oh." Was Kevin's short reply.

"Look." Gwen's face quickly fell sympathetically at the man standing a few feet away from of her. "I just wanted to apologize for what I said earlier. You were trying to talk to me, be helpful an all, and I was being rightfully unfair towards you. Rude, really." She takes in a deep heavy breath of the warm air around her. "So, I just wanted to say that, I'm really sorry if I hurt your feelings or anything-."

"Kevin." The raven haired man said, disrupting the woman's little rant. Showing for the first time in a while, a true genuine smile towards the girl. "Come on." He laughs gesturing the girl to follow him. "I'll give you a ride home."

Gwen didn't know why, but, for some strange reason, she found herself trusting him…

"Okay." She grinned, following just a little bit closer behind him, back to the garage.

_**LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. **_

"This is it." Gwen said, pointing her small finger towards the motel 6 she had told Kevin to drive her to.

Kevin looked out the window, slightly disgusted. "You sure you don't have family or someone to stay with?" He sighed, leaning back slightly in the driver's seat. I mean, this place looks like a total shi-"

Gwen glares at him before he could continue. "It's fine." She scolds heavily under her breath. "And if you must know, I'm meeting family tomorrow, and I want it to be a surprise." Gwen grabbed her purse from the floor, then clicked open the passenger side door. "Thanks for the ride, Kevin." She stated shortly before stepping out, while letting a small grin grace upon her delicate feminine features. "I appreciate it, and for all your help today."

"Hey." Kevin shrugs, not wanting their day together to end so quickly, but he knew that what they had was strictly just business. Nothing more, nothing less. "No problem. Anytime."

Kevin didn't drive off right away, he watched her, wanting to make sure that she had gotten into her room safely. He didn't know why, but, for some strange reason, Kevin found himself needing her presence….

Weird…. He had only just spent one day with her…

_**LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. **_

The day started out like any other, with Kevin working intently under another poorly beaten down car, for yet, another clueless and unworthy customer. He hated how some people treated their rides. It was ridiculous, and not to mention, utterly embarrassing. Cars were meant to be treated like family. They took you places far and wide to where ever you wanted to go, without argument or a heated fight. It was only a fair trade, to treat the machine with the same respect.

Walking over to the control panel of the auto shop, Kevin pushes the button to the door that would open the shop up for the day. As the door slowly made its' decent up to the ceiling, a certain familiar green jacket wearing hero peered through it as the sun began to lighten the deep and darkened shadows of every corner in the garage, causing Kevin to let out a low grumpy like growl.

"What now." Kevin howled out, rolling his eyes at his best friend. "_Please _tell me you're here just to annoy me." He leans back against the work bench coolly. "At this point, I'd take that over an alien invasion any day."

Ben laughs at his friends sorrow ridden face, smoothie in hand, as he takes a big slurp of it, sitting down in the seat located next to the work bench before replying, "And I'd say, "Boy, is it your lucky day, Kev." As he continued to smile at the Osmosian.

"On second thought." Kevin said, as he headed towards the other side of the garage, looking for a particular tool to do the job that was set for him for that day by none other than Bob. "I'd rather die with the unknown."

"That's the spirit!" Ben chuckles out, while making another annoying slurping like sound from his nasty flavored concoction of frozen ice, and muck that sat snuggly against his right hand, looking as though he were being over protective of the said grossness.

"Okay.. I'll bite." Kevin sighs, while bending down, still searching for a particular tool. "Why are you here? Don't you have like, puppies to go save or somethin'? I mean, you do have a life outside plumber business, right?"

"Yeah!" Ben cried out, furrowing his brow in irritation at the ex-con. The hero was actually starting to question their so called friendship at this point. What kind of friend of anybody's really, insults their buddy constantly for five years? "You, know? If you're just going to be mean, Kevin-"

"Ben? You in here?"

Kevin's ears perked up on the sound of that familiar voice. He knew that voice. Where had he heard that-

"In here!" Ben calls out, signaling the person paging him to come into the garage.

"Nice." The voice scolded towards the smoothie slurping brunette. "You couldn't wait a few seconds till I had my flats tied, and let me walk over here with yo-" The red head stops her rant almost immediately when she noticed Kevin standing all wide eyed in the corner of the garage. "Oh." She gasps in surprise, then smiles at him. "Hi."

"Um… Hey." Kevin simply answers back, his heart for some reason, beginning to race with her being there, but he was too shocked to see her standing at the door way to even notice the sudden change of pace throbbing inside his chest.

Ben looked between the two for a moment before he spoke. Clueless to the fact that, by their expressions alone, it was obvious they had already met each other prior to that day.

"Kevin?" Ben smiled widely, as he stood up to stand next to the red headed beauty. "Meet my cousin, Gwen." He grinned, putting a friendly hand upon her shoulder, giving her a tender cousin like squeeze slash hug. "Gwen, meet my best friend, Kevin.

Kevin just stood there and said nothing. Ben wasn't sure if the man heard him correctly, or for that matter, if the osmosian was even on the same planet at the moment.

Taking in a deep breath, Ben walks a little closer to his comrade. "Kevin? Is everything alright?" He asked out of concern.

Kevin took in a deep solid breath of the gas and oil like air that hung heavily in the garage, before he slowly drawled out in a whisper and replied, "Craaap."

Ben just stood there, raising a brow in complete confusion.

**Okay! Another chapter complete! This will be the last update, until I can revise and review my next chapter(s). It needs some heavy work done to it. :D So, I hope this one will feed your love of Gwevin for a while! :D As always, I want to thank each and every one of you, who has read, and foremost, reviewed! You guys are simply wonderful. Thank you ever so much! **

**And as always, review this too, please. I just adore them immensely! :D Thanks a ton guys! You ROCK!**

**Laughs to the people, **

**The Spoon. :D**


	4. Chapter 4

Kevin stood there absolutely silent, and still, not at all interested in answering Ben's sudden questioning about his well being. After all, it would seem that at this point in time, the Osmosian was pretty much just in shock. Plus, it was as if Ben really cared about what was truly going on inside of that head of his in the first place... And in all honesty, Kevin would never openly express his feelings freely to just anyone, regardless of the situation. Even if it was his own pitiful life that were hanging on the line. To Kevin, it just simply wasn't going to happen.

Thinking that the ex-con hadn't heard a single word that came flowing out of his mouth, the hero yet _again_, asks his friend the same question once more. "Kevin, are you _sure _you're okay? I mean, you are still with us, here on earth, right?" He finishes, snapping his two fingers in front of the man's cold hardened features.

The raven haired hero quickly shook his head, as he let out a small muffled. "Hm?" causing the hero to justifiably roll his eyes in an irritating like gesture. "Forget it, Gwen." Ben said, as he looked behind his shoulder, shooting a dumbfounded expression toward his cousin. "It's pretty clear that Kevin's gone completely delusional."

That of course, brought Kevin out of his incoherent like state. "Doubt it." He heatedly replies, snorting slightly under his breath. "I just can't believe all the stuff I've been hearing, that's all." He sighs, folding his arms across his chest, while leaning back against the tool bench ever so coolly.

"Believe what_, dare_ I ask?" Ben heavily sighs, knowing that nothing good would come out of this conversation. He knew from past experience on how this whole thing was going to eventually pan out.

…Poorly, and _so_ not in his favor.

Kevin absent mindedly scratches the tip of his nose, as he shows no signs of any real emotion. Trying his hardest to hide one of his signature smirks, he finally gives Ben an answer to his little question, shrugging his shoulders carelessly in the process. "That someone like her could even come _close_ to being related to someone whose constantly annoying twenty four seven." He finally smiles, laughing under his breath. "I mean look at you, Ben. Nobody in their right mind would ever admit to something like that."

"Hey!" Ben cried out in defense, while smacking his friend hard onto the shoulder. "I resent that remark!"

"More like "_resemble_" that remark." Kevin interrupts, grinning even wider, more sinister at his comrade. Ben sure was making things pretty easy on him today, and so far, Kevin wasn't going to come out and complain. He secretly wished that most times it would be as simple as this with every insult he'd throw at the young hero. It'd sure make things a whole lot better for him in the long run that was for sure.

Just across the way, Gwen was watching and observing intently on how those two interacted with each other. Though, slightly annoyed with their endless, and constant bickering, she actually liked the fact that Ben had finally found a friend he could relate too. Ben never had any real close friends when he was a kid. If anything, he got picked on by other children his own age, more so than making any close tight nit, friendships. She smiled full heartedly to herself. For once in her life, she was genuinely happy for Ben. "_Wow._" Gwen thought, as she lifted a curious brow. "_Did I just_ _have a mature, rational moment of thought about Ben_?"

Smiling to herself on a job well done, a high pitched beeping sound suddenly came screaming out from Ben's watch, bringing everyone out of their own personal battles.

Upon hearing the obnoxious beeping, Ben instinctively brings up his now glowing wrist , letting it hover ever so slightly into the air. Pushing the intercom button on the devise, it was at that moment when Grandpa Max's voice echoed into the silence that had quickly enveloped inside the auto repair shop.

"Grandpa?" Ben spoke in surprise, staring intently at the ultimatrix, while Kevin and Gwen made their way closer to the intercom, waiting for the elder plumber to speak his mind.

"Hi, Ben." Max replied gravely, while sighing heavily into the device. The way old man was carrying the tone of his voice, basically told the hero that he wasn't calling to have a nice, family like conversation. Taking in another deep breath, Max continues. "Something's going down just on the outskirts of town, and it's causing a lot of havoc with the locals. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it seems to have destroyed half the town. I've sent some plumbers from my end to handle the town folk. But it's up to you guys to stop whatever's out there from doing any more damage." He sighs, clearing his throat. "Or, worse."

"You know we can handle any situation that decides to get in our way Grandpa." Ben said seriously, reassuring the old man that he and his friends were the right people to do the job.

"I know, but the problem is, is that the information I received has been coming in on my radar as a signal of distress." Max pauses for a moment, gathering up his thoughts. "It's hard to explain, Ben, but with half a town being destroyed, and having more questions than answers, it's only telling me that this whole thing might be something far worse than a just simple cry for help."

"Why's that grandpa?" Gwen cuts in, curious to know what was exactly going on."Maybe the distress signal was a desperate cry for help. Until we go and check it out, we won't know for sure."

"Hi, pumpkin." Max chimes in, his voice cheering up slightly at the sound of his granddaughter's voice. "I'm glad to hear that you made it home safely." He chuckled, making Gwen slightly grin. "Thank goodness Kevin was there to help out with your unexpected car trouble."

"Wait…" Kevin cuts in. "How did you know that I-"

"Kid?" Max laughs lightly to himself, interrupting the wide eyed ex-con. "I know more about what goes on in this world, that young kids like you, can only dream about."

Kevin simply rolls his eyes at the experienced plumber's answer. Seriously, sometimes he thought that the old man would purposely get under his skin just to try and get a rise out him, and really, Kevin wasn't even _close_ to being a kid anymore, so why did Max still consider him being one? Kevin had come a long way since then, and it annoyed him to no end that the older man still saw him as a small helpless child.

Gwen smiled coyly at Kevin on her grandpa's response, then, pushing the amusement she was receiving aside, she began to focus all of her attention back onto the intercom. "As I was trying say earlier Grandpa, how do we know that it's not a cry for help? Like I said before-"

"Because." Max breathed out, disrupting the girl. "The signal is also reading high levels of radiation."

Ben furrows his brow with curiosity, and in concern. Knowing that half of the town had been recently destroyed, _with _the possibility of the people that resided there getting badly hurt , they needed to act soon if the team was going to make any kind of head way on finding the culprit, or culprit**s **that were causing the mass hysteria, and destruction with the locals.

….In other words, Ben and his team needed to leave, _now_.

"We'll get to the bottom of this." Ben said darkly into his bright green contraption. "And take whatever is out there, down. You have my word, Grandpa. We'll fix this."

"I never had any doubts, Ben." Max said, his voice showing a knowing smile. "Just promise me that all of you will be careful out there. We don't know who or _what _were dealing with."

"And Where's the fun in that, if we're all careful?" Kevin said jokingly, while folding his arms over his chest in amusement. "Can't we just say, that we'll _try_ and make it home alive? I hate making promises that I can't keep."

"Now is not the time for jokes, son." Max scolded, correcting the young Osmosian. "I've gotta go now, Ben. I need to try and see if I can find you some more information that can benefit with your guys' latest mission."

"Alright, Grandpa." Ben replies, clicking the button causing the intercom to go dead, as the green glowing light faded into the distance. " You heard what he said guys."He continued, putting a more serious tone upon his features, while bringing his watch into view. "It's hero time!"

_**LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. **_

The car ride had been silent for most of the way. Ben was finding the view of the passenger side window quite entertaining at the moment, while Gwen was just happy at reading one of her ancient, and mystical spell books.

Which, basically brings us back around to Kevin.

Staring out at the road just ahead of him, Kevin finally had the time to think and reflect about what had transpired in the garage only thirty minutes ago. "_She was his __**cousin**_?" He thought long and hard to himself. "_How is that even possible_? _She looks_ _nothin' like the guy_."

Cringing at the thought of such a beautiful girl, looking like his moronic friend, Kevin instantly clears that horrible sight and scenario out of his mind.

It wasn't worth the threat of vomiting in the long run, really.

Turning yet another corner towards their destination, Kevin quickly notices a bright yellowish glow in the corner of his eye, and before he had any time to react, the said bright glow collided with his beloved green challenger. "SHIT!" Kevin screamed out, as the vehicle began to sway uncontrollably against the black top located beneath the car's tires, burning the rubber as his foot clamped down on the breaks, while trying to gain control once again of his precious ride.

Gwen flew instantly to the floor, while Ben's head crashed into the glass window, causing it to break on contact.

"What the heck is going on!" Ben bellowed out in fear, while placing his hand against his throbbing head.

"Does it look like I know! " Kevin screamed back, his knuckles turning white against the steering wheel, as he was trying to avoid all the yellow flashing like bombs that were suddenly attacking them. "I'm just trying not to get us all _killed_!"

Gwen slowly rises up off the floor of the car, her forehead bleeding from hitting one of the pieces of Kevin's alien tech that had been lying beneath her feet. Seeing the boys' distress, she leans forward, setting herself between the two guys. "Both of you need to just calm down!" She cried out, as she fell to the side once more by Kevin's sudden spastic, driving. "None of us are going to solve anything by being at each other's throats!"

"_Gwen_." Kevin bellows out, his eyes widening in concern for her, he didn't know why, but, he was suddenly worried for her. "Your head? Are you alright?" He chokes out, placing his free hand against the front of her scalp.

"I'm fine." She shortly replies. "Right now, we need to concentrate on getting out of here alive."

"Working on it!" Kevin said, now taking his hand of the girl, bringing it back to the steering wheel, while swerving forcefully to his left, trying to avoid more of the liquid like fire bombs.

"Work faster." Gwen said, taking in a sharp shallow breath. Ben turned to look at her, and followed her gaze out the back window. The hero's eyes instantly widened with fear on what he saw just behind them. "Um.. K-kevin?" Ben stutters under his worried tone. "I think we have company."

"What?" Kevin tightens his brow, as he looked into his review mirror. "What the hell!" He sighs, his own eyes, now widening in disbelief. "What _**Is**_ that thing!"

"It looks to me like a really big, giant, glowing, um, bug type thing, that can shoot fire balls with acid?" Ben rhetorically asked, while griping the handle just above his head, trying to gain some ground, so he could avoid yet another blow to the face.

"Yeah. I can see that!" Kevin growls out, dodging another ball of acid fire. "So, how do we get this giant pest of our backs?"

Ben reaches for the dial on the ultimatrix, searching for the alien that he wanted for the task at hand. "I'd say, when you're dealing with someone who's all fired up in a self loathing temper tantrum, it's time to give them a chance to '_chill'_ out, and relax." He smirks at the older man, smacking the dial down. "_BIG CHILL_!" He proclaimed as he flew out the passenger side window.

"Lame." Kevin shouted out, shaking his head in disappointment, as he watched Ben exit the hunted down green challenger. "I've heard way better."

"Let me see if I can help Ben by slowing the thing down." Gwen spoke up, as she rolled the back window down, putting her head and torso through it, while the sound of the glass opening brought Kevin back to the fight they found themselves getting into.

"Oh, right." Kevin rolls his eyes at the girl. "And what can _you_ do to stop it, princess?" He half jokingly said, looking into the side view mirrors of his car out of habit, as he notices that the hero was starting to run out of steam. "It looks like Ben's even having a hard time-"

Suddenly, Gwen's delicate hands began to glow a magenta, bright flashing light. To the ex-con, it seemed as if the said glow magically flowed effortlessly from her finger tips. The whole thing to him, was just intoxicatingly amazing, and without a shadow of a doubt, beautiful. Moving his eyes back and forth between the road, Gwen, and Ben with the large bug like creature, Kevin couldn't help himself, but to be drawn in by her, very intrigued with her glowish pink powers.

Gwen fired off a couple of rounds at the creature. Its' glowing outer red shell seemed to be protecting itself from all of her booming manna attacks. "I'm not even making a dent into the thing!" She cries out, bringing half her head back inside the window. "Kevin, stop the car!"

"_What_? No!" Kevin retorted back, pushing his gas pedal harder to the floor. Ben wasn't getting very far with the beast, and the damn thing was getting to close for his comfort. Anybody in their right frame of mind wouldn't just heed all driving during an alien invasion. There was absolutely no way was he going to stop now.

"Do it Kevin, _now_! I've gotta go and help, Ben!" Tears started to form into her eyes in fear for the ice blowing hero. "He's weakening out there all on his own! He needs me… _You_.. All of us!"

Kevin saw her eyes widen in desperation, and without so much as another argument, Kevin stops the car, spinning it just a few feet to the right of the burning red monster. Gwen, without any hesitation, fled out of the back seat of Kevin's car, and began firing all that she had to try and bring the creature down.

Kevin quickly absorbed the elements from his car, forming one of his arms into a long, sharp and slender sword. Letting out his signature battle cry, he joins the newest member of their teams' side, trying desperately to bring the big ugly thing into submission.

"_Nice of you to join us, Kevin_." A raspy voice called down to the osmosian.

"Yeah, yeah." The raven haired man retorted rolling his eyes. "So, how do we beat this thing down, Tennyson!"

"_I don't know… Let me think_." Big Chill breathed out, as a cool white mist escaped his blue tinted lips. Putting a finger up to his chin in thought, Gwen decided that it was now or never to put in her expert advice onto bringing all of this nonsense, and fighting to a wanting end.

"BEN!" She spat out, throwing more manna orbs towards the large alien bug. "There seems to be a major soft, vulnerable spot underneath the gut of this thing!" She grunts, struggling to keep the monster at bay. Finally she wraps a few tendrils of manna around its' legs, trying with all of her efforts on slowing it down before it had time to reach yet another oncoming, small, innocent town. "I think that if you freeze it." She continues, sweat now dripping off her brow. "Then Kevin can use his extended arm, and bust the stomach open, dropping the thing dead on contact!"

Kevin and Ben nodded in unison, agreeing with the red head that this plan of her's just might actually work.

Following the girls instructions to a "t", Kevin and Ben still struggled to bring the giant insect to its' knees. One last stitch effort though, was all that the team had left in strength, and in energy to finally put this fight of theirs to one over exhausting end.

Big Chill refroze the creature once more, while Kevin had to continue to duck and dodge the acid like arsenal coming from the creature's elongated mouth, before he even got close to the undercarriage of the large alien from space. Finally reaching the belly of the beast, Gwen frees one of her hands, and makes manna filled steps for the Osmosian to walk up on. Getting as close as he could without falling off the manna based stepping stools, Kevin arches back his green tinted arm, and forcefully pushes the sharp edge into the abdomen of the creature.

On feeling such tremendous pain from the attack, the oversized bug began to thrash its' large prickly legs into the air, kicking an unknowing Big Chill to the ground, while screeching an unbearable high pitched howl into the warm, afternoon air.

Gwen tried to stop Ben from falling, but to no avail. The cool blue alien fell to the ground with an unstoppable _'thud'_, causing Ben's watch to automatically time out, as the huge fire breathing bug began to fall in its' own deathly demise.

Kevin and Gwen rushed to Ben's side. Gwen swiftly brought up a pink colored shield over them for cover, trying desperately to keep the acid like liquid that had fallen out of the beast's cut open stomach from burning them all alive.

In the end, Kevin couldn't help but secretly stare in awe at the girl. The Osmosian had become _very_ impressed with the newest member of their team.

_**Kind of long.. But… Eh, I hope you enjoyed this new chapter! Seriously though, I don't even **__**know**__** I managed to get all of this done in one go. :D **_

_**Anyways, please leave a sweet little review?**_

_**Laughs to the people,**_

_**The Spoon. :D**_


	5. Chapter 5

"And that's what happened, Grandpa." Ben sighed, taking a once over to all of his battle wounds, as he told the older man in detail with what had transpired only an hour ago. Max had called the trio over to his motor home after he had found some important information on the recent bug infestation.

"I'm just glad you made it out alive." Max sighed in relief, while putting a comforting hand upon his grandson's shoulder.

"And what are we, chopped liver?" Kevin growled out, folding his arms over his chest, as he turned to Gwen, hoping that she would agree by backing him up on his awfully rude remark towards her grandfather. When all he got in return was an irritated raise of brow, he slowly leaned in closer to her and whispered, "Sorry", and let the older plumber continue.

"I meant _all _of you." Max replied, smiling. "It could have gone down a lot worse if we would've lost any more innocent lives, especially at the risk of losing the three of you." He explained letting out a heavy breath of air, as he sat down on one of the bench seats that where located in the kitchen slash living room of his motor home. Lifting up a pan of fried food, thinking that the trio had to have been hungry after such a battle, Max simply asked, "Fried squid gumbo surprise? You kids sure look hungry."

Ben and Gwen's eyes automatically widen with fear, while waving their hands spiratically in the air around them. "NO! No thanks!" The Tennysons' replied in unison, as they proceeded to give out their own reasoning's for not wanting to eat the dish that the old man had offered them.

"Um.. I.. Just ate a little while ago, Grandpa." Ben grins, while taking a few cautious steps away from the frying pan that was holding to what most people considered where "un-digestible, and un-edible like food.

"Sorry, but I'm on a diet." Gwen sheepishly smiles, while bringing both hands up, almost shielding herself in defense. "I gotta watch my girlish figure you know."

That comment from the red head however, earned an immediate 'up and down look' from Kevin, who was convieniently standing right behind her at the time. "_What!"_ Kevin thought to himself, as his obsidian gaze shifted down from her delicate ankles, right on up to her soft, rose tinted lips. "_Is she on crack or somethin'? There's just no way that she needs-"_

"Kevin?" Max smiled, interrupting the Osmosian's inner observations of the girl, that he had for some reason, unconsciously grown to like over the past few days of just being around her.

"Uh." Kevin stuttered under his breath, thinking that he had been caught red handed by staring at the retired plumber's own granddaughter, his face now, turning a bright heated shade of crimson.

"You all right, son?" Max asked, now standing up out of concern, as he quickly noticed Kevin's sudden change in color.

"I'm fine." Kevin said a bit too quickly, as he began swallowing the heavy fear of bile down his throat, trying to get his sudden scare to pass. "I'm just…." He looks to Gwen and Ben, seeing their concern faces for him as well. "Ya know… Allergic to the stuff."

"No you're not." Ben spoke up, putting his two cents into the subject. "I saw you eat shrimp just the other day."

"So! That doesn't mean I'm not allergic to the stuff!" Kevin shouted out, maybe a bit too defensively. "Me eating shrimp proves absolutely nothing, Ben."

Ben furrowed his brow at the ex-con in suspicion, wanting to find out as to why Kevin had turned into a worry some shade of red. The hero had decided that it was best to just drop it, and save themselves of having an argument by setting Kevin's allergies to the side, for now.

"I guess." He finally drawls out slowly, leaving a raised brow up in suspicion toward his friend. "Grandpa?" Ben asked, turning his attention towards the old man, quickly changing the subject. "You mentioned during our ride over here that you had found some information on those bug things that we fought earlier today."

"Yes I did, Ben." Max replied, sitting back down, while shifting his weight into a more comfortable position, so that he could reach the high tech plumbers' computer that was hidden behind his flat looking kitchen stove. The man had an unspeakable amount of alien, and plumbers' technology hidden within every square inch of his compact sized motor home. The grey haired man never left his humble aboad unequipped without it.

Lifting his badge up to a circular shape type scanner, Max had suddenly made the stove quickly change its' outer appearance into one, complicated looking piece of plumbers machinery. Putting his wrinkled up fingers onto the keyboard located just below his hands, Max started to punch in certain key words and codes so that he could bring up the said information he had told Ben about before the three had arrived to his simple, and beloved little home on wheels.

Ben, Kevin and Gwen watched on intently as the old man continued to work. They were after all curious as to how and why these so called alien bugs were here on earth in the first place. To them, it made absolutely no sense. Those said bugs were just merely causing mass hysteria, and utter destruction in their wake, almost as if it were a distraction of some kind.

When they had defeated the alien creature hours earlier, there was absolutely nothing on the damn thing to justify it wanting to steal any one particular artifact, or, for that matter, the massive bug didn't even seem to have the brains, or was it showing any signs of it having any human like qualities of thought. So, the idea of it wanting to try and take over the earth was just practically ridiculous.

"Alright." The elder plumber spoke out, turning around in his seat, while breaking the train of thought amongst the younger three that were located around him, and the computer. "This is what I've got so far." Max took in a deep breath, and continued. "What you three defeated earlier today is what we local plumbers like to call an Aracnoid, it's a large insect-

"That can dissolve pretty much everything in its path by just the acidic mucous it shoots out from its' mouth alone." Kevin moves his eyes closer to the screen for a better view. "I thought those things looked familiar. But their body structure has changed over the last few years." He stands up and away from the screen, shrugging his shoulders. "It's probably why I didn't recognize them. They've gotten a lot bigger since then too. At least a few hundred feet."

"How is that even possible?" Ben asked in shock. "How can a bug evolve in just over a few years time?"

"More importantly." Gwen cuts in, putting her hand up to her chin in thought. "Why _are_ they here? They obviously have a purpose, being on earth. Plus, judging by how they interacted with us today, only tells me that the possibility of them being controlled by an outsider is quite high."

"I couldn't agree with you more, Gwen." Max said darkly, while shooting her one of his graved looks of concern towards her. "Which is why I can't let you be involved in this mission any furth-."

"What? Why!" Gwen interrupted, not giving the man a chance to explain, while at the same time causing her grandfather to jump slightly in his own seat. "What's so terrible about all of this that it forces me out of the mission?"

"Gwen." Max continued, softening his hardened glare towards her. "I'm not saying you couldn't handle the job. I'm just saying that it's going to get too personal and dangerous for you."

Confused, the red head presses on with the subject further. She had to figure out why Max, her own grandfather, didn't want her help with the evil forces at hand. "You know I can handle _anything _that's thrown my way!" She takes in a deep ragged breath. "I'm tougher than most of you give me credit for, and you know it." She folds her arms heatedly over her chest. "I can handle-

"Orthos". Max simply said, disrupting the girls rant.

Gwen's eyes went wide on Max mentioning that name, her throat tensing up with climbing amounts of sudden fear. "Wh-what did you just say?" She breaths out, letting her arms dramatically fall to her sides.

"You heard me, Gwen." Max replied in a serious tone. "Now do you understand-"

Before Max had a chance to explain himself any further, Gwen's face went flush, and tears quickly began to stream uncontrollably from her already, festering, reddish green pools. With her grandfather being, to what seemed to be at first, "unsupportive" of her joining the team, to the now new found information of a certain mad man coming into the picture by the name of Orthos. Who's mentioning clearly caught the girl off guard, and obviously put the fear of god into her already strained, crushed heart.

The red head looked upon the overly concerned faces of the three men at first. Embarrassed with how she'd been acting in the last few minutes. Then heer eyes fell upon Kevin's expression. He seemed pained, almost crushed, his dark like orbs festering in wanting to know what had her so upset. Kevin didn't like to see her so hurt, and he didn't know why. His heart pounded rapidly inside his chest, and all he really wanted to do at that moment in time, was to comfort her. He felt the need to do it... He wanted to do it… He just _had_ to do it… Reaching out a comforting hand towards her, the red head immediately slaps it away, and rushes out the door into the cool midnight air. Her whimpers of sadness fading with every rapid step she took.

"Gwen!" Kevin called out to her, quickly making his way closer to the entry way of the motor home. He didn't get very far, because it was at that moment, Ben had stopped him in midstride by putting a forceful hand upon his shoulders. "Kevin, wait."

"Get off me!" Kevin shouted out, forcefully shrugging the hero's hand off. "I need to go and find Gwen!" With that, Kevin ran out of the door without so much as any hesitations of looking back.

"Let them go." Max sighed, as Ben turned around at the sound of the old man's soothing voice, while placing a questioning like gaze upon his already worried features, wondering as to why his grandpa even wanted Kevin to go out after her.

"Kevin's just concerned for her, Ben. That's all." Max replied, already answering the boy's obvious question without him having said one single word on the subject.

"Why's that?" Ben asked in curiosity, while he leaned up against the nearby wall closest to the door. "It's not like he-" His eyes suddenly widened. "Oh… OH! Duude… That's just gross!"

Max shook his head at the young man's reaction to the whole thing, as he slowly sat back down in his chair. "Don't go saying anything to him. Kevin needs to figure all of this out on his own."

Ben quickly brought up a huge plastering smile. "Yeah, but, can't I just-"

"No, Ben." The old plumber sighed in irritation, interrupting his grandson, knowing the real reasons as to why the kid wanted to go and "out" the Osmosian's sudden feelings towards his granddaughter. Ben in return rolled his eyes, and huffed heavily under his breath. Sometimes that old man of his, would never let him have any fun. Especially when it involved getting Kevin back in some way or another from all those other times he had gone and picked on him.

It just wasn't fair.

"Anyways." Max began once more, while taking a small sip of his ice tea that sat on the table in front of him. "We need to figure out how we're going to stop Orthos Valiconte before he finds out that Gwen's living here, in Bellwood."

"With how things have been going lately, it seems that he may already know." Ben replied, his brow furrowing in fear for his cousin. "And you also know that no matter what happens, we're not going to be able to stop Gwen from helping." He finished, folding his arms across his chest, while leaning back in his seat slightly. "She'd end up fighting us first, _then_ going after Orthos."

Max chuckled at this, and took a sip once more from his ice cool beverage, as he lifted his pointer finger up towards Ben, raising one of his grayish tone brows. "I know. It looks like she's going to help out whether I like it or not."

"Did you expect anything less out of her, Grandpa?" Ben grinned knowingly to himself, earning a smile in return from his grandfather, who already knew what Ben had meant when he said that.

Max had known a long time ago that his granddaughter did in fact have his old, natural spunk and drive for wanting to rid all of the bad from this world by trying to make it a better place for those who happily lived here, and in all seriousness, Max wouldn't of wanted her to change that aspect about her. He loved that part about Gwen, and it made her more of a warm hearted, genuine person, in his deep, caring eyes.

_**LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. **_

Kevin ran into the darkness of the forest that had surrounded him, calling the girl out by name frequently to see if she'd at least answer him back. But, when she didn't acknowledge him screaming after her, he decided right then, that he wasn't going to give up on her based on the fact that she simply didn't respond.

Knowing the red head didn't have any type of communicator attached to her, or a plumbers badge for that matter, made the situation at hand that much harder for the raven haired man to get the tabs on her, and at this particular moment in time, he found that he really didn't care. Kevin was going to find her, come hell or high water, he was _going _to find her.

Hearing a crunching noise that came from a twig being stepped on, Kevin swiftly moved himself behind a tree that was located just to his left. Watching, as Gwen ran right passed him. "_How did I manage to get in front of her_?" Kevin thought to himself as he turned slightly to keep an eye on her.

Suddenly, the girl had lost her footing, and she fell face first into the cool mud and muck that was located just beneath her feet. Letting out a huge cry in pain on impact, caused Kevin to come out of the shadows from the neighboring trees.

"You okay?" Kevin shouted out in concern, as he quickly helped Gwen up onto her feet, while brushing all of the dirt and twigs that had collected onto her when she forcefully collided with the ground. Then, lifting her upright, Kevin suddenly had found himself staring intently into Gwen's own intoxicating green pools, making the man blush even more, when he realized for a second, on what he was actually doing.

Gwen in return, gazed right on back with as much passion and emotion as he did. The fire of intensity between the two had started to slowly rise, and it was at that moment, Kevin and Gwen had forgotten about the whole entire world around them.

…And the cool summer night breeze was the only one left to be heard, echoing in their silence.

_**I want to thank EVERYONE who has reviewed, faved, and alerted this story! You all are so fantastically wonderful beyond comprehension! You all amaze me.. Alright? Seriously. WOOOO! **_

_**Now.. My authors note…Sorry that I stopped where I did.. (And it being a shorter chapter) I just haven't figured out where these two are going at this point. I am working on it though. So, next chapter will have heavier Gwevin moments inside, due to that fact that they will be alone together. Also, I'm still developing Orthos's Character. He's of my own creation so, it's going to take me some time to get him to go with the way I want his personality to play out …So.. Please bare with me folks!**_

_**Either way, I hope you enjoyed it, because this chapter gave me some trouble. But, I think I'm happy with it. :D **_

_**As always, PLEASE leave me a sweet little review? Thanks a bunch!**_

_**The Spoon. :D**_


	6. Chapter 6

A single roman candle burned off into the distance. Its' flickering light foreshadowing only half the face of one, dark sinister man, his eyes cold as the coolest of ice, and the soul he carried along with it, could easily be matched.

Laughing maniacally to himself while setting his gaze upon the magical staff that snugly held a medium sized purplish orb in its claw like casing. The tall, light in skin tone man, began to whisper in the dead of silence, a small, incoherent chant. Making the orb shine brighter than its' undertone, transforming the glowing glass ball into what looked to be a hollow like view of a certain red headed female.

The man who had been sitting alone in the shadows quickly placed a soothing, satisfying grin upon his lips. "There you are my sweet Gwendolyn." He deeply cooed, sliding one of his large calloused fingers covered in iron, across the vision of her face. "And here I thought I had lost you." He leans slightly into the glowing orb, bringing it closer to his soften features, watching, as the girl's face fell in sadness, tears dripping endlessly down those pretty little cheeks of hers'. "Now, now." He caressed onto her vision once more. "Hush... we'll be together again soon… and those _intoxicating _powers of yours will be mine once again." He heavily sighs in a mocking gesture. "Shame that a delicate, and beautiful creature such as yourself, is going to have to die…"

As quick as the light flickered on, darkness remained hovering in his world once again. Only his deepened fits of menacing laughter was left, filling the blackened empty room that had finally consumed him…

_**LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.**_

Kevin and Gwen just stood there in silence, none of them saying as to one word to even try and break the quiet. Kevin stared on into what he considered were the most beautiful green eyes he had ever laid his own upon.

Gwen intently glared back into his, realizing then, that they were like her own doorways to his very soul. As if anyone who dared to take a look, could see his most, deepest, darkest secrets. The story of his life seemed to be hidden behind those gorgeous obsidian pools of his.

Finally, Kevin broke their silent bond, and he quickly began picking what little debris was left on the girls light pink, v-neck t-shirt. "So…" He choked out, clearing his throat, showing signs of being slightly nervous by blushing madly once again. "Mind telling me why you took off the way you did earlier?"

Gwen quickly lowered her head, sighing out a heavy breath of air, finding the log next to them, just as good as any to sit on. Because if Kevin really wanted to know what was seriously wrong with her, the story she was about to tell was going to be more than endless.

"Sit." She said shortly, patting the log she was now setting herself up on. Kevin complied, and sat down next to her. Waiting, for her not so simple explanation.

Gwen turned her head away from the concerned man beside her, staring intently at the moon that had lit up their surroundings, as she began telling her story, speaking, ever so softly. "Orthos, was somebody who I had grown very close with, just over two years ago." Her face hardening at the memory of the man. "I met him through Grandpa, and the plumbers. He seemed like someone I could relate too. Someone, who I could completely trust and confide in. But-"

"Did you love 'em?" Kevin asked too eagerly, squinting his eyes, and slapping himself a dozen times over mentally for asking such a thing. He didn't mean for his question to come out sounding so pained and desperate. Luckily, all the girl did in return, was smile up at him in suspicion, not letting his embarrassment carry on any further. "I.. I mean, ya know, I was just-"

"No." Gwen held up her grin, interrupting the Osmosian. "Not really. Sure, we were close, but, it hadn't gotten to that point yet. At least, I don't think it had."

"Oh, well that's good I guess." Kevin smiled, rubbing the back of his head shyly. "Anyways..." He urged the red head to continue, saving himself from another heated hot flash.

"He and I started dating for a while. Things were going good. Life was good. I even remember, after another year of dating, him _begging_ me for the longest time to move in with him, but…" Gwen sighs, folding her arms over her chest. "I just wasn't ready, you know?" She finishes, finding herself staring back into Kevin's dark orbs once again. Kevin noticed then, that Gwen was starting to welt up with tears. He knew that this "Orthos" guy was more than bad news, that the man had to have done something beyond horrible to this one of a kind, sweet hearted young girl. But why? What kind of a man, _any_ man for that matter, would want to do such a thing to her? Secretly, it was hurting him deeply. It just wasn't right, and in Kevin's dark, and vengeful mind, Orthos was _definitely _going to pay, regardless. Orthors was deserving of all that was coming from the Osmosian. It was a known fact that Kevin was going to make him realize.

"So, when I told him that I wasn't ready to go to the next level." The red head choked on her words, bringing her knees up to her chest for more comfort. "Things with his attitude and demeanor against me began to change. He became almost psychotic, and his true intentions of wanting to be with me in the first place showed on the last mission that we worked together on." She finally let the tears loose from her face, wiping them off as they fell. "He almost killed me, Kevin… I.. I almost _died_. If Ben wasn't there-"

Kevin's eyes automatically went wide, he didn't exactly know what to think, or how to register this newest piece of information. Biting his tongue, and holding in his obvious anger, he let the girl continue on with her heart wrenching story of her past. But seeing the distraught written all over Kevin's face, Gwen slowly moves her tale along, leaving out the part of her almost dying, for the time being. "I vaguely remember that it was raining heavily that night." Gwen shivered slightly at the terrible memories that plagued her. "Like I said, we were on a mission. Pretty standard actually, just your basic bad guy. I was there, due to the fact that all of my college courses were on a mid summers' break. So naturally, I was able to help out this time around." She turns her face to the left, away from Kevin. The less she gazed into his hurtful features, the easier it was for her to keep on talking. "Things were all going to plan, until Orthos and I were alone, and that's when he decided to strike out at me… When all hell, had broken loose…"

_**Flash back:**_

"_Gweeeen." Orthos sing-songed out to her, as she ran from the broken pieces of wall he had busted himself through, trying to reach to her. "I know you're in here." He breaths in the unsettling dust that filtered through the air, moving his long brown bangs from his sight. "I can sense your manna, Gwendolyn, and I must say it's absolutely __**riveting**__." He takes a look to his left and then to his right, Gwen was nowhere to be found. "Come out, come out where ever you are…"_

_Gwen ran to the next room that was located just to the front of her, trying to get as far away as she possibly could from him. Stepping behind a broken down wall from a previous fight with the other alien that had been arrested by the Ben and the plumbers recently, she crouches down, silencing as best she could, her fast and labored breathing. The man after all had incredible sonic hearing. _

"_**Gwen**__!" Orthos shouted out in frustration. "You know you can't hide from me forever!" He arches his head to the side, now getting a heavy whiff of her scent. The breeze of the cool night air was obviously helping towards his benefit that night. "Oooh." He heavily drawls out. "__**Now**__ I know where you are my sweet, and delicate-"_

_Walking over to where he had caught the smell of her scented perfume, he heatedly lifted up the wall that the girl had been supposedly hiding herself in seconds earlier, smiling meniachley to himself at his accomplishments of finally finding his ex-girlfriend. But…_

_She wasn't there._

_Letting out a loud, aggravated growl, Orthos threw the broken down wall behind him. The man was pretty strong, and it took little energy for him to move an entire side of a building. Taking himself deeper into the small, low tinted lit room, Orthos paused for a moment, to gather up his surroundings. _

_Gwen was still in there… He could feel her presence. She was there. He knew she was, she just __**had **__to be. There was no other way out. No windows to break out of. No extra doors, __**nothing**__… Besides, there wasn't anything signaling his inner radar, telling him otherwise. _

_Suddenly, a bright pink orb shot at Orthos, knocking him to the ground, as his head smarted against the cement pavement just below his feet. _

_Shot after shot had been taken towards the young plumber. Gwen had been struggling for the last five minutes to find that extra strength to try and keep her attacker at bay, running from him, caused her to lose more than anticipated. Then, Gwen's chest began to tighten from all of the strained pressure of fighting him off, desperately firing manna after manna, trying to keep him back, and away from her. With all the extra raw energy she was using, it was now working totally against her. Also realizing that she was slowly starting to losing the fight, and Orthos hadn't even begun his wanting torment against the girl. _

_Orhtos smiled wickedly at her, bringing himself up from the cool dampened floor, showing no signs of even being hurt. Gwen stopping dead in her tracks, as he made his way closer to her, effortlessly. _

_Gwen's manna bombs didn't even scar him. No wounds of any kind. It was as if he were suddenly immune to them. _

_Waving his pointer finger in mock disappointment at her, he simply breaths out, "Naughty, naughty, Gwendolyn." His face lingering mere inches from her own. "Is that how you're supposed to treat a guy who's madly in love you… by taking them __**down**__?" He then leans in closer to her left ear, grinning as he whispered, "When all he really wants in return, is your undying love and affection?" _

"_Save it!" Gwen spat out, spitting droplets of her own saliva against his cold stony features. _

_Orthos didn't even flinch at her motions of hatred against him. "Now see?" He brings a tender finger up to her face, gliding it affectionately down to her rose bitten cheeks. "This is what makes you unattractive, dear __**Gwendolyn**__." He hissed, shoving the crimson haired beauty, without mercy, to the ground. Her head slamming hard against one of the boards, knocking her out cold._

_**End Flash back…**_

At this point, Gwen was sobbing beyond her control. She was more than scared. She was downright terrified, and with good reason.

Kevin didn't know what to say, or for that matter, what to do on handling the situation he found himself getting into. The feelings he was having towards her, were basically all new to him. Normally, girls wouldn't make him act this way, but Gwen? She was different, and he instantly found himself falling for her.

Hard…

To make things even more confusing for Kevin, Gwen had suddenly collapsed into his open chest, sending a wave of heated blush up to his already crimson face. Kevin could only sit there for a few seconds, with no response, and showing little comfort. He wasn't sure of himself at the time. Should be so bold enough, as to wrap one of his arms around the girl? But, when he felt Gwen pushing herself further into his warm, broad chest, he knew right then on what he had to do…

He instinctively wrapped both of his arms lovingly around her, trying the best way that he knew how, on comforting the sobbing, beautiful red head.

"And that's when I found Ben, and Grandpa hovering over me." Gwen finally choked out, taking in a long ragged breath, trying her hardest to calm her unraveling nerves. "I never knew what really happened, or how things went down after that. All I remember were those two fussing over me."

"Gwen." Kevin spoke up in a low whisper, as the girl hid her face further into his chest. "I won't let him get to you." He found himself promising her. "I'll do whatever it takes to make sure that Orthos doesn't lay a single hand on you ever again." He then places a delicate finger under the red head's chin, forcing the girl to look up at him, straight in the eyes. He wanted her to physically see that he meant every single word that had escaped from his mouth. That it wasn't just another silly little game that would eventually break her heart. "I promise, Gwen. You hear me? Nothin's going to happen to you."

"You don't know Orthos." Gwen pleaded, trying to reason with the raven haired hero. "He'll stop at nothing to find me, Kevin. Do you understand?" Her voice began to crack and rise. "He doesn't have morals, _or _the slightest thoughts of mercy for that matter… and if you get in his way..? I.. I can't let that-"

Kevin, without giving himself, or her, another second of thought, bent over, and instantly kissed her. Gwen's face lit up naturally with satisfaction, and without so much as skipping a single beat, she passionately responded by kissing Kevin right back with the same fire and intensity as he, was pushing against her.

The two were lost once again, in their own moment of bliss.

_**LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.**_

"What's taking them so long?" Ben wined, tired of waiting for his friends to return, as he looked to his watch that was located on his wrist. "Oh... Right." He sighed in frustration, huffing under his own breath. "My watch doesn't _tell_ time."

Max simply rolls his eyes at his grandson, letting out a small chuckle in pure humor at the young hero. "Patience is a virtue, Ben. Remember th-

"_**BOOOOOOOOM!"**_

Max and Ben fell back instantly. The sudden explosion caused the two to fall hard inside of the motor home. Ben never hesitated on getting himself back up from the tile flooring, as he raised one of his arms on top of the kitchen table, pushing himself upright, and quickly taking his leave out of the door. "KEVIN! GWEN!" He shouted out in fear, as he made his way into the fire lit forest, the trees having been slightly burned on impact. Grandpa Max also got himself up off the floor, following after his grandson, fear ringing in his chest for the very worst.

Ben maneuvered in out between the trees, screeching his voice into the air like a mad man for his two teammates. Max, who had grabbed a few high levels of alien arsenal, just before he busted out the door with the brunette hero, was keeping a look out, watching Ben's back for any sudden, and unwanted intruders.

Finally coming upon a clearing that Ben knew hadn't been there naturally from all those years of visiting the place, saw Kevin, as he was slowly making his way up from the damp, forest floor.

"Kevin!" Ben said, rushing to his side, panic smearing all over his already 'scared beyond belief' features. "Where's Gwen?"

"Shit!" Kevin growled out. "I don't know! We were sitting here talkin', and the next thing we knew-"

Suddenly, Gwen's high pitched screaming filled the thick smoky air that had been lingering around the three men. Ben began to panic once again, and ran closest to the direction on where he could've sworn her voice was carrying from, figuring that she had to have been close, he turns himself back around, glaring back to his comrade. "We have got to find her, Kevin." He said gravely.

"You don't think I know that!" The dark haired man said, grabbing Ben's jacket collar, then, throwing him back down and away from him due to his own frustrations of losing the red head. "You're not the only one who's worried about her!"

"I never said that you weren't, Kevin!" Ben retorted, lowering his brow in anger at the ex-con. "You just assumed that-"

"Calm down." The voice of reason interrupted, by shouting in their general direction. "We're not going to be able to find Gwen, if both of you kill each other off first." Max glares at the two boys in disappointment. "She needs help from the both of you. Got it?"

Setting their differences aside, Ben and Kevin quickly nodded in agreement. They knew Max was right. Gwen wasn't going to come back to them without the team's full cooperation with each other.

Gathering up what little reasoning that they had left, the three plumbers began to head deeper into the forest to see if they could try and locate Gwen, and fast. Max knew that they didn't have much time to bring his only granddaughter back to safety, and Kevin at this point, was beyond worried for her, silently hoping that when they do find her, she would still be alive.

Orthos was in fact a very dangerous man, and shouldn't be taken lightly as just one of those "throw away villains". He was cold, unforgiving, and more importantly, he had Gwen.

Knowing these facts, and coming up with that type of realization, Kevin had picked up his pace…

_**Okie Dokie! Another chapter finished! Once again, you guys just blow my mind away! You all are simply? AWESOME!**_

_**As always, enjoy, and please leave me a sweet, and wonderful review!**_

_**Thanks for reading,**_

_**The Spoon. :D**_


	7. Chapter 7

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" Gwen had awoken from the sudden, recent blast, screaming out at first in fear, not knowing where she had landed, her voice piercing the whispering winds of the cool moon lit night. The large Aracnoid beast had made itself known to her, by placing one of its' elongated, sharp legs against her pale skin just above the shoulder. Forcing one of the spears from one its' appendages into her deeper, basically causing the woman to cry out even more. The pain she was now feeling, was terribly unbearable. It almost felt as if her whole body were catching on fire. Gwen hesitantly looked up at this point, only wishing that she hadn't. Letting out a high pitched like squeal, the monstrosity hovering just above her leaned in even further, getting itself that much closer to the frightened red head's face. Its' heavy, heated breath alone, was making her feel as though she just wanted to let all of her senses go, and vomit. It was thick, and it smelled of pure hatred and utter death. The young woman winced a bit more in pain, as the alien leaned in even closer, almost crushing her under its' large, massive weight. Just as Gwen was about to summon up her manna to try and fight the bug from hell off of her, a familiar voice began to speak, signaling the creature to hold off on its' cruel intentions.

"That's enough, Racknura." Orthos breathed, putting a comforting hand against the hide of the beast. "We don't want to hurt her just yet. …Remember." He pats the back of the arachniod once more. "I still need her alive." He finished, walking closer to the girl who was trapped against the dampened forest floor, Gwen's eyes naturally widening with fear.

Without so much as giving it a second thought, Gwen tried to fire a couple rounds of her glowing pink orbs towards her captive. But, to no avail. Not so much as even a crimson spark spat from her slim like finger tips. Ignoring her gut instincts, and not even skipping a single heart beat, she aims yet again, putting more of an effort into her sparkling, spell binding retort.

But, the same results came, and went, nothing was happening in her favor. Gwen had now been rendered useless. _"But how?"_ She thought to herself, as her breathing became more labored by the seconds from the mere thought of not being able to defend herself.

Orthos kneeled himself down to her level, answering Gwen's hidden thoughts of confusion. "I bet your wondering why you can't use your special abilities my dearest Gwendolyn." He smiles carelessly, reaching his hand out to caress one of her blood colored cheeks. "That's simple really, and I'm sure _you _of all people would find this absolutely _fascinating,_ because you see…." He lets out a small chuckle, lowering himself towards her, as he whispered gently into her ear. "I've paralyzed them, you, cannot do a _thing_…."

"What?" Gwen finally sputtered out, swallowing the heavy bile that had recently built up inside of her throat. "What d-do you m-mean I-"

"Did you honestly think that my creature of perfection had pierced that supple, soft skin of yours for no good reason?" Orthos interrupts, standing up from his squatting position, while walking out, and about around her. How it amused the man to no end that she was scared, and so vulnerable. It amused him beyond anyone's sane comprehension. "Tsk, tsk." He continues, waving a teasing finger into the air in front of his smiling features. "And here I thought you were the smart one."

Gwen couldn't believe what she was hearing. Now she knew why these particular species of alien were here on earth. They were more like a walking, living, and breathing serum of paralyses, it's acid like spit it poured out, was just a natural defense mechanism. Now that Gwen had thought about it, there had been plenty of earth species of bugs that had the same exact features bestowed upon them. How could she have been so stupid, so blind? She was in fact smart enough to know better. But, here she was all the same, lying flat on her back, and ultimately powerless. "I should've known." Gwen mumbled under her breath, her eyes narrowing in anger. The pain in her shoulder wasn't helping the situation either, and no matter what happened to her from her on in, she wouldn't let Orthos see her become entirely vulnerable, and terrified. The red head had to stand her ground, to stand firm, if she wanted to make it out alive.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, my dear." Orthos chuckled, resting his arm over the beast next to him. "You can't possibly know _everything_ that I do." He smiles wickedly towards her, his said grin running chills up and down the girl's spine in disgust. "Were would the fun in that be, if you knew my every move? Honestly…" He pauses for a moment, taking in a deep cool breath. "Would you even be here for this little reunion of ours, _if _you had all the details to my devious plans?"

"This isn't a game Orthos!" Gwen shouted out, her head feeling slightly dizzy on her sudden outburst, but she paid no mind, and continued. "What you're doing is completely wrong! Think of how many innocent lives you've hurt by trying to get to me!"

Orthos laughed at the girl's sad efforts of reasoning. "Do you think that I could honestly care less?" He spoke ever so calmly, as he always did. "I have what I need. I have all that I could ever want." He carries himself back over to the young woman pinned to the ground. "Your power, combined with what I have already stolen from countless others, will make me virtually unstoppable." He clenched one of his fists, bringing it up to his cold, emotionless features. "I will rule all who live here, and you, my poor pathetic excuse for a manna based being-" He cups her tattered face into his hardened hands. "Will die…. And that, Gwendolyn, is my devoted promise to you." Orthos stood back up from the ground, signaling to the large monstrosity to pick Gwen up off the forest floor. Only then did Gwen realize, not only were her powers paralyzed, but now, her whole body had been as well. The pain she was receiving though, was still coursing through her veins like wild fire, feeling as if thousands of tiny needles were constantly boring into her delicate skin, and she couldn't help but let out an ear piercing squeal as her body drifted up slowly, away from the ground. "Take her to my quarters." Orthos demanded. "Make sure that she's 'comfortable'." He cocks his head to the side, grinning like the mad man that he was. "We want her stay with us, to be an experienced one that she will _never_ forget."

Then, the purple sphere that sat upon the ancient wooden pole Orthos held tightly in his hands began to glow. Lifting his eyes on to the bright light, his sight began to dance with a heated danger, and in slight amusement. "Looks like we have company." He huffed under his breath in annoyance, turning his attention towards his mutated bug companion. "Racknura, give her to me."

Racknura complies, dropping her instantly at Orthos' feet, Gwen in return let out a deep gasp in pain as she hit the ground below. "Gently you fool!" The ex-plumber scolded, his hand glowing crimson with anger. The creature backed away in fear, but obeyed none the less by picking her back up, and gently placing the red head into the man's arms. "Now." Orthos' began once more, bringing a sinister smile upon his lips. "It seems that we have some _unwanted_ guests…" His eyes narrow in seriousness. "Take care of it. We don't want any of them to spoil Mine and Gwen's happy reunion, now do we?"

With that, Racknura headed towards the location of the three unsuspecting plumbers, but before the creature reached no more than a few feet away, Orhtos stopped it once more, and with a head of warning spat out, "And if you value your pitiful life, you won't fail me. Take them out perminantly. Show no mercy. Understood?"

Low clicking sounds coming from the mouth of the alien confirmed that it had no choice. That it was going to do whatever Orthos bid it to do. Satisfied, Orhtos turned, and started to head back to where his hidden fortress lied… After all, he had "bigger fish to fry".

_**LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.**_

Max, Ben and Kevin had been running through the dark forest for the last twenty minutes since the blast had occurred. Ben trying hard to hide his wanting to panic, while Kevin felt ever so guilty for letting Gwen slip through his fingers after he had promised the young girl that nothing would ever happen to her. Max of course sensed this, and spoke up out of concern.

"Kevin." Max sighed, trying to catch his breath from running so hard. The older plumber wasn't as young as he used to be. "This isn't your fault. You didn't know-"

"Explain to me how this isn't all my fault?" Kevin growled back, keeping his focus straight ahead of him. He didn't want Max to see the fear, and worry hidden in his eyes. "Because, with everything that's happened so far, I don't see how _any _of this isn't_._" He finished, running faster due to his anger. After all, he didn't have anything to pull out his growing aggressions upon. At this moment, there wasn't even a single sturdy tree around to be able to bring one of his fists against it. Well, he did think about taking it out on Ben, but… The team needed the younger man to try and help bring Gwen back home safe and sound, so, that first option wasn't even close to being available.

"No." The old man replied, grabbing the raven haired man by the shoulders, bringing them both to a dead stop, Ben, naturally following suit. "How were you of all people, supposed to know what was going to go down, Kevin? Even with the experiences that I received over the years, couldn't have predicted something like this."

Kevin looked away from Max's comforting face, and snorted roughly under his breath. "Still doesn't mean a damn thing to me." He heavily sighed, clenching his fists, hard. "I could've done something, _anything, _to help save her." His voice had began to rise. "I should've protected her from that blast! Shielded her somehow, but no... I let that Orthos freak take her away from m- ..Us!" He said, correcting himself from the embarrassment. Max caught onto his little slip of the tongue though, but, decided to let it go. At that moment, it just wasn't the proper time or place to be talking about such things as Kevin's complicated love life.

Max lowered his head in defeat. No matter how much he would try to argue reason with the Osmosian, he also knew that it wasn't going to do either of them any good. Kevin was dead set on blaming himself, and there was nothing the older man could say or do, that would eventually change the hard headed kid's mind...

Suddenly, the sound of trees breaking from all around them brought the Plumbers back to reality. "Guys!" Ben wailed out, running towards his friends to regroup. "We've got company!" He pointed just to the left of where they were standing, as one of the arachnoids came out from the shadows it hid in.

"This big ugly is _mine_!" Kevin shouted out loudly, absorbing the matter from a large stone that was just to the right of him, letting out one big emotional battle cry, and running with all that he had towards the oversized alien beast.

"**Kevin**!" Ben and Max cried out in unison. Kevin, at this point, obviously wasn't thinking things through, and his teammates already knew that he was going into this heated battle blindly, Gwen also, wavering heavily on his mind.

"How did you guys beat the last arachnoid?" Maxed asked as he fired one of the laser weapons he had stashed against his side. "You guys did defeat it before, right?"

"Yeah." Ben replied, flipping through the dial that sat upon his wrist. "She said something about the undercarriage being vulnerable, almost thin, or something along those lines."

Max nodded in agreement, still firing rounds of electrified bullets at the creature, the said rounds only slowing it down, bouncing off the thick hide of the thing. It wasn't doing much of anything else. "Sounds like you may be right, Ben." The old man said, gritting his teeth in a fury. Then, a deep, hurtful cry broke Ben and Max's little conversation, and Kevin had flown right on past them, hitting a nearby tree as he finally fell on the decent, with a hard, bone crushing '_thud'_. Max rushed over to help the younger plumber, while Ben finally smacked his hand against the ultimatrix, a green glowing light engulfing the already starlit skies.

**"RAATH!"** The orange fuzzy cat like beast crowed out, bringing his large fists into view. "HEY, **YOU**!" Rath pointed at the creature in a heated fashion, as the big bug in return, looked back to the tiger's general location, and began taking a few steps towards its' new recent threat. "JUST WHO DO YA THINK YOU ARE BIG UGLY BUG MAN? SERIOUSLY! SMACKIN' STUPID MORONS INTO NEARBY TREES IS SO NOT **COOL**!"

"Hey!" Kevin growled out, as Max helped him up to his feet. "I am not a mor-"

"Save it." Max scolded, narrowing his eyes in disappointment, while grabbing his gun off the ground, in the ready to fire it at will. "We fight the enemy. Not each other."

Kevin nodded, and sighed in defeat, reaching for the old man's weapon before any of them ran into battle, he absorbed the fine metal casing with ease. This material however, was much, much stronger than any solid rock or any other surface that he could ever find. With being in a forest, there weren't too many items to choose from. Wood would only cover him for a short amount of time, and stone, yes it was efficient, but, that would have eventually fallen off of him in the matter of seconds with this particular type of creature. Kevin needed the best of the best, and Max's firearm seemed like a fine candidate in this type of situation.

Rath gained his speed as he ran up to the destructive alien. It spitting out hot acid like slime from its' opened, jagged mouth. The tiger dodging as best he could, while trying to get a direct hit on the top of its' head. "HOLD STILL!" The tiger cried out, as he jumped upon the back of its' neck, desperately holding on for dear life. "HOW IS RATH SUPPOSED TO TEACH YOU A LESSON IF YOU DON'T HOLD STILL!"

Racknura spun around swiftly, trying to knock Rath off of its' back. But the feline clung on, not showing any signs of slowing down. Letting out its' signature like squeal, it finally spun on last time, flinging Rath to the hard ground below.

"OW! NO FAIR! YOU _TOTALLY _CHEATED!" The tiger growled furiously, while wiping his fur off as he got up from the dirty flooring. "NO MORE MESSIN' AROUND BIG UGLY BUG MAN!" Rath grins. "OR SHOULD I SAY, MR. MC CHEATER PANTS... YEAH, DEFINITELY MR. MC CHEATERPANTS! SEE? IT TOTALLY WORKS FOR YOU!"

Just as Rath was about to make his final pounce, Grandpa Max stopped the overly aggressive feline. "Ben, wait!" He called out to him, reaching an extended arm out towards his grandson. "It'll take all three of us to bring this creature down!"

"WHAT! BUT I-"

"Ben!" Max scolded in warning once more, while furrowing his brow. "Don't back sass me son. Appolplexian or not. I will take you down myself." Max now, was folding his arms over his chest, showing the young hero he wasn't going to stand for that kind of attitude against him.

"BUT… I… OH COME ON!" Rath drops his arms in defeat, making Kevin for the first time, since Gwen's disappearance, laugh under his own breath at his friend.

"Kevin and I will distract it, while you get under the thing, and put a stop to it for good." Max continued, getting right to the point, while still firing his laser cannon at the thousand ton arachnoid.

"FINE. WHATEVER!" The forlorn tiger retorted, moving himself into position.

Max and Kevin ran to the beast, Max firing at all the sensitive areas between where its' legs connected with its body, and Kevin using his makeshift hammered fist, slamming it against its knees. Twisting and dodging his way under the belly of the beast, Rath looked over just in time to see the Arachnoid fling one its prickly appendages at Grandpa Max, sending him flying high into the air, hitting the ground forcefully, and knocking the wind out of the old man. Max just laid there, not moving a single muscle.

"Ben! We've gotta stop this thing _now_!" Kevin yelled out, as he too saw the old man hit the forest floor, desperately hoping that he was alright. Kevin had always looked up to the retired plumber, he was like a second father to the raven haired man. He wouldn't forgive himself if he lost the old man too. For that matter, Gwen would be absolutely devastated if she knew her grandpa had sacrificed himself by trying to save her.

Rath's eyes widen on seeing his grandfather go down. "OH! YOU ARE SO GONNA PAY FOR THAT ONE!" The tiger instantly rolled himself out of the way from another potential blow, Kevin, trying his best to distract the creature with the only way he knew how. By pissing it off, and making the beast to look only at him, and nowhere else. This gave the hero time to rush under the underbelly of the thing, and with a simple long jump up from the ground, Rath forced one of his extended claws into the monster, slicing its' stomach all the way down to its backside. The beast automatically keeled over in pain, letting out a shriek of terror before it landed silently to its side. The alien's breathing had slowed down, finally, coming to a full stop in dead silence.

Ben's watch had finally timed out, leaving both young adults breathing heavily from their recent fight, and they turned their attention onto Max, who now, seemed to be fine, kneeling himself down onto the grass below him, running one of his hands against the emerald strands of weeds, touching it with just a single finger tip.

"Blood." Max whispered, his voice echoing loud enough for Ben and Kevin to hear.

The boys rushed to the old man's side, kneeling themselves down as well. Ben, who swallowed his fear down hard, was the first to speak. "It.. It can't be." He gasped, tears filling up into his dark green pools. "She.. She."

"N-no." Kevin heavily breathed out, standing up off the ground, pointing his index finger forcefully at the evidence before him. "This… This isn't hers…" He looks back up to Max, slightly hopeful. "Right? This just has to be someone's cruel idea of a sick joke!"

"We'll find her." Max replied, his eyes showing sadness, confirming Kevin's worst fears. "There's not enough of it here to suggest that she's lost a lot of blood, and it doesn't seem to be trailing anywhere." He lets out a heavy fearful sigh. "She's injured, that's no lie. But more importantly, she is alive… For now."

Kevin heatedly turns himself around and away from his teammates. He didn't want them to see him fall apart as his anger threatened to fall. "This is all my fault." Kevin mumbled under his breath, his knuckles turning white from clenching them so hard. "I never should have-"

"Kevin." Ben sadly sighed, seeing how distraught the man really was, and brought himself up from the ground as well, while putting a gentle friendly hand upon the Osmosian's shoulder. "Grandpa Max said that she's still alive, we'll find h-"

_**SMACK!**_

Ben stumbled to the ground as Kevin's fist collided with the side of his jaw, and he sat there totally dumbfounded, as Kevin began to lash out all of his aggression towards the young hero.

"Kevin!" Max yelled, grabbing the raven haired man's shoulders, trying to hold him back.

"You don't know anything!" Kevin continued, his eyes showing hatred, and pain, not caring in the slightest that Max had him restrained. In reality, it was probably for the best. "How do we know that she's not already dead, lyin' alone in a ditch somewhere, huh!" The tears at this point were now falling from those deep, dark orbs of his.

Ben kept staring on at him, speechless. Truth be told, he didn't know for certain, he had no justifiable answers to his friend's questions. Until they find proof stating otherwise, the young boy had absolutely no clue. All he could do was hope that when they do find her, she would still be alive… That's all the hero had as reassurance for Kevin, and at this point, it wasn't enough.

"Kevin." Max said again. "Calm down. I know for a fact that Gwen is still alive."

"H-how.?" Kevin replied hoarsely, turning himself around to look at the old man who was standing behind him.

Max dropped his hold he had on the boy, and smiled. "I have this nifty little device that can read the aura of her anodite signature, and this little guy here, is telling me that it's pretty darn strong."

"Where did you get that?" Kevin replied pointing to the alien device in shock. "I thought that-"

"Doesn't matter. We all know that she's still alive, thank god." Ben said, who was now off the ground once again, as he rubbed the left side of his jaw. "Man..." He sighs, letting out one of his lame-esk type jokes. "Remind me to never make fun of your girly punches ever again."

"Sorry 'bout that." Kevin half sheepishly smiled, while shoving his friend back in a playful like manner. "Some way or another, we'll find a reason as to why you deserved it…." He grins wider, furrowing his brow in amusement. "Eventually."

Ben simply just rolls his eyes in retort towards the ex-con.

"Come on." Kevin said with a bit more confidence in the tone of his voice, quickly changing the subject, as he glared into the darkness that had surrounded them. "Gwen needs us now more than ever, and we have to make sure that the nut-job who has her, will pay dearly for what he's putting her through."

Max and Ben couldn't have agreed more, and retreated themselves in the direction towards Orthos...

**_WOOO! UPDATE! :D My deepest apologies of it being late though. I had been wracking my brain on this one... Ugh.. Anyways, I hope this tickled your fancy! Lol! Thanks to everyone once again for the AMAZING reviews! You all have given me something quite special that I enjoy. :D Thank you, thank you! _**

**_And as always, please leave a review on this one too!_**

**_Thanks ever so much,_**

**_The Spoon. :D _**


	8. Chapter 8

The trio of plumbers were headed deeper into the woods. Grandpa Max was at the front with the alien tech that sat snugly in his right hand, tracking Gwen's still, very strong, anodite signature, with Ben not falling far behind. The old man, was keeping his full eye view out for Orthos' well hidden tavern. Kevin, staying at the same pace as the hero, constantly kept looking over to his left and to his right for any sudden frantic movements. Sometimes, in this line of work they were in, it paid to be that paranoid.

"_Just wish that I_ _had been more paranoid when that stupid explosion came at me and Gwen."_ The raven haired man thought to himself sadly. He hated the fact that he had let all of this happen. It wasn't fair. She didn't deserve any of it, and Kevin silently promised Gwen, that when they did find her, he was going to take care of her, and no matter what, he, himself, was going to be her forever diligent shadow, whether she found it to be overly strange or not.

"Okay.. Soundin' kind of creepy there Kev… _again_" The raven haired plumber mumbled under his breath, almost tripping over a stray log in the process. That however, earned him a laugh from a certain green jacket wearing hero. "What?" Kevin glared over at the said teammate in annoyance.

"Nothing…" Ben began, trying to hold in a teasing smile. "It's just that… You sound really stupid talking to yourself." The young man finally let go of a small chuckle. "Hearing you talk about how 'creepy' you are and all.. Just makes what I say about you most of the time even more true."

"Yeah, well. I have a lot on my mind right now." Kevin simply said, brushing the hair away from his eyes, keeping his gaze away from Ben. It scared him a little that somebody could possibly read his personal thoughts, and feelings through those dark pools he wore, and right now, he didn't want Ben of all people to read his personals in such a way. Besides, Kevin felt the young man wouldn't understand his problems at hand in the first place. In reality, Kevin didn't even know if he understood all of them himself. It made things just that much harder in the long run.

"Is it about Gwen?" Ben asked curiously, while almost stumbling over his own feet as well, but missed the log he snagged his pant leg on by a few inches, and regained his footing.

"That, and among other things." Kevin rubbed the side of his face in irritation, setting off the red flags towards Ben. It was prominent that Kevin had been totally lying. Normally, he was actually a pretty good fibber most of the time. But hanging day in and day out with the man for the last five years, tends to bring up some of the advantages of being able to blow his bluffs right out of the water. It was one of Kevin's quirks that told the young hero right off the bat, if he had been telling the truth or not. Same went with Osmosian, and Ben. Ben's was the simple twitch of his left eye that gave him away. So naturally, Kevin wasn't fooling him.

"Yeah? Well, I'm thinking it's the _only_ thing that's been on your mind, Kevin." Ben bravely said out loud, but wincing quickly, hoping that the ex-con wouldn't land another fist against his handsome face. He would be lying to himself too, if he didn't say it hurt like hell the last time, and the truth of the matter was, he didn't need another reminder.

Kevin continued to walk in silence. It appeared to the young hero, that his friend was trying to avoid the subject at hand, and most likely didn't want to talk about it to begin with. But, Ben loved to put out the pressure on the ex-con. It mainly served more so, as the entertainment value of whole the thing really, but none the less, he wanted to be there all the same for his comrade.

"It's okay, Kevin." Ben drawled out, his face going serious. "Whatever you say stays here, between you and me, and no one else." He raised his arm up as if he were making the man next to him a solom vow. Seeing Kevin's unsure expression though, made him end it with a, "I swear, Kevin. Just between you and me. I promise."

Kevin walked a few more steps in quiet, before he let out one of his heavier, agitated sighs. "There's really nothing to talk about." He slowly sighed once again, turning his head slightly to the left, trailing his view along the tree lines just for the distraction it possessed for him. "You probably already know that I like her. What more is there to say?"

"So you admit it then?" Ben asked raising his brow, smiling. "I totally knew it." Kevin finally glared back at his teammate and groaned, but said nothing further about it. Ben, let out a small chuckle himself, ending the conversation in a silent agreement with the Osmosian, and continued to head on through the thicket of brush, but stopping abruptly, when he face planted into the back of his grandfather's upper torso, hitting the ground hard on his behind, letting out a loud "oof" in the process.

"What the heck?" Ben groaned, standing up to wipe the dust he had collected on his rear-end from the sudden fall moments ago.

"We're here." Max simply said, as all three of the men's gaze tilted upwards towards the sky above them. What they saw was beyond what any of them had expected. It was a dismal looking place of solid cold rock. Trees, blocking its' view from plain sight. It was any wonder why nobody had noticed such a thing before. Towers, and towers of stone, stacked up strategically on top of one another, forming, to what looked to be a well crafted fortress. Trees and foliage had graced themselves upon the outer walls, with buds of colorful, blooming flowers that etched in winding motions along the outer shell of the castle like structure. It was nothing short of miraculous in any on looker's eyes.

"How do we get in?" Kevin said, pushing himself forward through the two that were just standing there in awe. Kevin didn't want to waste any time finding Gwen, and getting her out of there.

"I'm not sure." Max simply said, as he scratched the side of his head in bewilderment. "I've never seen such a place like this before. I wouldn't know where to begin, Kevin."

"Well, the only way to find that out is to head up to the steep hill right over there." Ben pointed just to his left, showing a ledge that led up to another trail, leading towards to what looked to be the front entrance. "Seems like that's all we have to go on for now."He lets out a low sigh, seeing his grandpa's uneasy look from the idea. "It's better than nothing at this point."

Max and Kevin nodded their heads in agreement, and the three plumbers headed up towards the steep ledge, Kevin not skipping a beat, as he brought up both of his hands, lifting himself up, and helping Max do the same, with Ben following in toe.

Orthos was soon to have more company than he had originally planned for…

**LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.**

Orthos sat in the darkness in silence. Watching the red headed girl's chest rise and fall with every solid breath she took. He wanted to wait for her to wake up before he decided to do any of his black magic on her. It wouldn't be any fun for him if she were still knocked out cold.

"Besides." He smiled wickedly to himself, never taking his eyes off of Gwen. "We wouldn't want her to miss all of the fun, now would we?"

A dull crackling noise responded outward just to the right of where Orthos had been sitting. His arm automatically stretched out, stroking the familiar hide of an arachnoid. That sinister smile of his deepening with each stroke he made on its back. "Now, now my pet." Orthos bellowed out soothingly. "We all know that this is for the best… For all of us."

Suddenly, Orthos's attention was veered over towards the stirring girl that lied strapped to what looked to be a large broken sun dial, inscriptions of a foreign language that sprawled out just beneath her shaking body. Were these small convulsions she was having, coming out from being afraid? Or was it just from being momentarily paralyzed only an hour ago? She didn't know. But her eyes slowly fluttered open anyways, revealing her once bright green pools of life that had now dwindled down to no more than a dull flicker of despair and helplessness. Orthos had done nothing to her at this point, but, looking at the way Gwen's physical appearance was, it would seem as though he already had…

Gwen groaned as she came too. She went to reach for the side of her face, but found that her arms had been strapped to the mystical table by magic, and her brows quickly narrowed in anger, realizing that what she had experienced outside, wasn't even close to being a dream, it was more so, than the nightmare she was fully living.

"You're pathetic." Gwen finally spat out, her gaze following Orhtos as he stood up from his chair, making his way closer to her. "You have no right! No right to do this, Orthos! So do us all a favor, and just give up!" She struggled against the magical binds once more, growling out in anger towards the man. " Ben, Kevin and Grandpa will have no problems taking you down perminatly... Is killing me really worth the risk of losing your own life?" That however, made the sinister man laugh darkly at her, and in return caused Gwen to cringe under her skin. She hated his laugh. To her, it held a more of his evil presence than his own standard appearance, and it secretly frightened her.

"Oh, Gwen." Orthos chuckled under his breath, putting his hand onto her cheek. "I have every right, you know that." His face suddenly fell, and his tone of voice began to go south. "You _owe_ me... That little stunt you pulled on me two years ago, was bound to catch up with you sooner or later." His hot breath beamed onto her pain stricken face, his grip slowly growing tighter. "YOU OWE ME NOTHING SHORT OF YOUR PITIFUL LIFE!" He shouted, as he pushed himself away from her, walking across the darkened room, now pacing back in forth in agitation. It was obvious that Orthos was beginning to look unstable, and Gwen trembled helplessly with fear. She didn't have any way to escape his wrath. "Not only that." He continued on, his demeanor calming down ever so slightly. "You're mana will be ever so helpful in my plans... So... Let them come. They've already killed one of my arachnoid beasts, why not give them a chance at a few thousand?" He cocked his head to the side, and Gwen could've sworn she saw the devil himself jump out from those insane, deep orbs of his. "I'm starting to think." He puts his gloved hand up to his chin, and grinned wildly at the red head, her face cringing at the look he was giving her. "Why should I wait any longer? I might as well just take those powers of life energy off your hands now... It'll be fun, just like old times..."

Gwen couldn't help but feel her heart leap up into her throat, and the room felt as if it had suddenly gone cold...

**LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.**

Ben, Kevin and Grandpa Max finally had made their way up to the stoney rock wall, realizing that the front entrance was just mere feet away. Kevin stood up, and ran towards the door. Ben placed a hand quickly on his shoulders, abruptly stopping him.

"Wait, Kevin." Ben said, placing his hand off Kevin's shoulder back down to his side. "We need a plan."

Kevin glared at him, and pursed his lips together tightly before he spoke, strumming a heated list of his fingertips. "How 'bout we bust the stupid door down, go in, beat Orthos beyond recognition, take Gwen, and then we go live happily ever after." The raven haired man stepped even closer to his comrade, sizing himself up to the boy, hoping that this would steer the conversation towards the direction of how he wanted things to go with bringing Gwen back, safe. "Sounds like a good flawless plan to me."

"Cool it, Kevin." Max chimed up, the voice of reason once again, taking over the situation. "We don't want to go into this blindly. We need some sort of a plan if we stand any chances of Gwen getting out of this alive." He furrows his brow towards Kevin, as he walked up closer to the boy. "Alright?"

Kevin held in his breath, and looked down scornfully at his feet. He knew the Tennysons' were right. If he wanted Gwen to come out unscathed, they needed to form a solution to their bigger problem. "Fine." Kevin simply sadi, forcing his attention back onto Ben. "Okay hero. Whattya got so far?"

"Hmm." Ben began, putting his hand up to his chin in thought, while Kevin and Max looked at him with expressionless features, watching as the hero's gears were slowly churning on the inside of his head.

"Sometime today, Tennyson!" Kevin growled out, shoving the younger boy slightly, knocking Ben off balance. They were wasting time. Kevin hated wasting time. Especially knowing that Gwen was still in there, possibly in critical condition. He really don't know, and it scared him.

"Relax!" Ben retorted, his eyes showing frustration with the ex-con. Grandpa Max only sighed in irritation with the two younger plumbers. Nothing was getting accomplished, nothing was forming to help out his granddaughter.

"Ben." Max cut in. "Even though Kevin's being awfully rude about this." He lets out a small smile, though, the situation they were in wasn't deemed worthy of such a thing. It was mainly served as a comforting purpose of what he was about to say to his grandson. "You need to work faster. This isn't your standard criminal mission, to where we have the time for your more complex, plan making schemes."

Sounds of someone picking the lock to a door brought the Old man, and Ben out of their small quarrel of reasoning. Ben naturally scoffed at what he was witnessing at that moment.

"Nothing ever changes." The hero sighed heavily to himself, his expression singeing deep with anger.

"What?" Kevin said, as he stood up from breaking the lock on the door, letting the armor he had collected slide effortlessly off his body. "I'm getting us in aren't I?"

"Sure." Ben snorted in his direction, putting his hand roughly up to the right hip. "If you look at it as, the not so legal type of way."

"Whatever." Kevin breathed out absently, while opening the door to what seemed harbor even more of the darkness. From where they were standing, they couldn't see no more than a few feet ahead of them. _"Going in blindly"_, as Grandpa Max had stated a few short moments ago, only proved to Kevin that it didn't matter if they had a well though out, strategic plan or not. Going in any type of building without having some form of light was pretty darn dangerous all on its own. Any well trained plumber would tell an under developed rookie that.

Just as Ben was about to mock Kevin in a retort, the familiar scream of a woman had filled up the emptiness of the deepest caverns around the castle's cool stone walls.

It would seem that to the trio of heros, Gwen was now fighting for her life, and Kevin Levin had gone into full overload with panic...

**_Done, and DONE! LOL! :D Sorry dearest readers for the late update...Again... I have been quite busy with life in general, and also with my other account.. D.A... Plus, this chapter took me FOREVER to write. Which sometimes happens. I try to take my time with these things to make them a better read. If I rush, it doesn't turn out so well. So please be patient between updates. Okay? The first four that were posted prior, I had written well before I decided to publish it. Now, I'm working on each chapter as they come. So.. No extra planning is involved ahead of time. Again, THANK YOU TO EVERYONE who had reviewed! I'm so thrilled that this story is a winner with you all! WOOO! Also, as a warning for next chapter.. It WILL get pretty angsty in there for Kevin and Gwen.. Yes, Ben and Grandpa Max too... My only hope is, that I do the next chapter some justice. :D_**

**_As always.. Please leave me a sweet little review!_**

**_Hugs, and cyber cookies to all,_**

**_The Spoon. :D_**


	9. Chapter 9

**"Death Comes Knocking At Her Door"**

The trio rounded a corner of several cold stoned walls. Then another, and then another. Ben at this point was getting frustrated, tired, and above all, worried. For his cousin's cry of pain was weighing heavily throughout his mind; panic setting in as he and the others arrived closer to an obvious dead end. Furrowing his brow, Ben finally whirled around towards his followers, slowly opening his mouth to vocalize his distress. Kevin of course, beat him to the punch, and hissed under his winded, raspy breath. "We can't keep goin' on like this, Ben." The older man growled out, his fist clenching tightly against his side. "Gwen's not gonna make it if we keep goin' on these stupid wild goose chases!"

"I know, I know!" The hero sighed heavily in defeat, running his hand nervously through his short brown mane. "But how do we know which room Orthos' is hiding her in? It's not like I can just bust through every dead end we come up against, Kevin! It could put her in more danger if we lose the element of surprise." He finished, kicking a brick layered wall beside him out of anger. "Face it, guys. We're lost!" He forces himself to look up at the ceiling, his brows furrowing once again in disappointment. "… and we're losing time."

"Ben." Max began, breaking the small silence around them, his eyes being more than sympathetic for all who were involved, including his missing granddaughter. Quickly placing a comforting hand on top of the boys shoulder, he pushed out a small, comforting smile. "We can't lose hope right now, Ben, and I know you'll do what needs to be done to bring her back safe."

The young man lowered his head in response, huffing in a silent tantrum. But he also couldn't deny that his grandfather was right. Now was not the time to give up, or lose hope. But to find her in such a disoriented type of place just seemed unfathomable. For the last thirty minutes or so, they had found nothing. Nothing. No signs or traces of her anywhere. All they could hear were her outbursts of pain, and it literally killed them all on the inside every time her breath was being wasted on her torturous screams of despair.

As the hero was about to agree, and carry on with their task, another cry broke the three men out of their moment of reassurance, making Kevin tremble a bit more in fear. "That's it!" He howled out, bringing up his hand, and absorbing the stone wall next to him. "Element of surprise or not, I can't just stand here doing nothin' while that psychopath has his way with her!"

Letting out a familiar battle cry, Kevin had made a run towards the adjacent wall, all in the ready to slam his stone cold fists into the thick black tinted brick. But a bright flash of green stopped the man dead in his tracks, forcing Kevin to automatically turn towards the somber light. There, stood a bright yellow mechanical alien, tall in stature, with animal like features.

"ARMADRILLO!" Ben proclaimed, aiming to push Kevin swiftly aside. "Save your energy, Kevin." The slow and articulated alien announced as he finished pushing his comrade out of harm's way. "Let me handle this." Without further argument, the raven haired man quickly obliged, letting out a satisfying smile; watching as the metal covered alien crushed himself through the thick stone caverns with ease, as each casing of brick fell effortlessly around their feet.

As they worked their way over to the inside of the hole that was conveniently made minutes prior, the trio of heroes took a quick moment to look at their new surroundings. Disappointed, yet again, that they had found nothing in their efforts of getting any closer to Gwen.

Letting out a heavy sigh in frustration, Max seized the open opportunity to scan the small hallway they were now standing in, seeing if there were any types of clues left behind from Gwen. Not seeing anything out of the ordinary, he then allowed a small scornful look grow onto his already withered and wrinkled face. "Shoot" He whispered to himself, making sure that his companions wouldn't hear. "I'd take anything at this point, Pumpkin. Give me a clue… A sign, just anything, please." The old man prayed silently, rubbing the perspiration from his brow. Still finding nothing, and with a shake of his head, the older plumber and his two followers continued their journey further down the path; all three of them even more disappointed than they were before. Suddenly, Max had abruptly stopped as an all too familiar clicking sound began echoing just from his left, enveloping itself on the inside of his ears. Max's eyes quickly narrowed, and he lifted his hand up, signaling the other two to stand guard; to be in the ready for an attack from one of the infamous Arachnoids. "Stay alert, kids." He whispered out low, shifting his eyes from side to side. "It's close."

"Too close!" Kevin bellowed out, as the Arachnoid busted through the larger opening it had made, snarling, hissing and running rabidly towards them; showing no signs of slowing itself down. The wall that had fallen closest to Ben ended up crumbling right on top of him without warning, pinning him to the ground instantly. Seeing the hero's distress, Max rushed over to help the boy, trying with all that he had left to free his grandson, as rock and debris continued to descend from the ceiling above. Much to the hero's dismay, the watch he had worn on his wrist since he was at the age of sixteen had automatically timed out, rendering him completely useless to halt his newer problem.

"Grandpa!" Ben cried out, struggling with all of his might against the heavy rubble of stone. "I can't…*groan* I mean-"

"Hold on, Ben!" The older plumber tried to reassure, bending himself down, and herding the rock away as best he could; rushing to break the boy free. "If I could just-"

But the man was cut off, and with one fluid motion, Max was thrown back several feet by one of the oversized bug's appendages. Ben looking on helplessly as his grandfather smacked harshly against the wall, lying on the cool damp floor, knocked out cold; Kevin was doing his best to seize the creature to a dead standstill, or at least he tried to distract it away from his friends, and doing his best by giving the old man some time to free the young hero. But, it was to no avail.

"Kevin!" Ben shouted out, grunting as he moved more stone off from his body. "Get Grandpa, and get out of here, now!"

"Not a chance!" Kevin responded, his voice sounding a bit strained. It was no secret that the hard shelled alien was wearing him down fast. With Ben, and Max out of commission, he was fighting the creature souly on his own, pounding his fists into the massive insect, hoping that his frantic attempts would keep it away from the wounded others.

Ben had finally broken free, and surprisingly no serious damages had been done. Running with a slight limp over towards his fallen family member, he immediately reached down and rested his hands against the man's neck, feeling for a pulse.

Luckily, it was as strong as ever.

The young man sighed in relief, and felt his grandfather stir, a deep moan escaping his lips. He was still alive, and it brought a smile of relief upon Ben's face, with Max opening his eyes, and smiling sheepishly at him in return.

"Hey!"

Ben and Max turned to the source of the voice, realizing that the little reunion of theirs would have to wait. Kevin was slowly losing his one on one battle with the beast.

**XX**

"Please… Stop." Gwen groaned, watching the pink essence drift away from her body. "_Please_." She tried to reason with him once more; her small frame getting weaker by the seconds, her voice shallow, as every intake of breath she made faded dangerously low.

Orthos deeply smiled in satisfaction. Showing no remorse for what he was beginning to do. "You think this is bad?" He asked in a low chuckle of amusement, his eyes sparkling with madness. "My dear Gwendolyn… This is practically nothing." He cooed on, his hands glowing menacingly with crimson power. "Why, I haven't even begun chanting any of my spells yet."

"Ben…" She edged on, swallowing hard with what little saliva she had left in her throat, her fists tightening, and opening from her life source being drained. "He will-"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about him or your other little comrades." Orthos grunted in satisfaction, as he faced his red headed prisoner. "Their being _well_ taken care of… I assure you."

Gwen gasped in horror as Orthos lifted his hands, his power increasing into the air tenfold. His breath quickening its pace as his own body raked in on her form's own life energy. His crimson power deepening into a demented blood red as her limited source of strength began to feed his unlimited amounts of hunger.

The energy, and the intensity from it all was feeling quite riveting for Orthos, almost as if he were getting high on some miraculous potent drug, and soon, he'd be completely unstoppable; reeking in all the benefits of earth, and the entire universes located in other galaxies once everything was all said and done.

But, he had to admit, that it was all thanks to his ex-lover. If only he could 'properly' thank her. The dark man laughed to himself maniacally as his past memories of being with her flashed vividly on the inside of his mind, as more manna began ripping out from the red head and into his own wicked, and heartless soul. Feeding his empty and cold blackened heart.

Gwen screamed out in agony once again, as several violent pink rays tore heavily away from her body, her frail, and partially drained anatomy lifting up with ease. Grunting, and falling dramatically to the floor from the enormous blasts of manna, Orthos knew that it wasn't going to be too much longer before the transfer of her powers was complete. Now was the time to seal the deal, and to chant the spell that would ultimately bring poor Gwendolyn Tennyson to her demise. Orthos grasped the rounded table that the young woman lied helplessly upon, his fingers trembling fiercely as he gripped the sides, pulling himself up from the dampened rock below.

"Mea distribuero in virtute tua….. De Potestate luminis, fontem eius aurum excreuerit aeternum erit –" He gasped heavily for air, trying with all of his strength to stand himself up straight, his eyes glowing more and more mad with menacing power.

Gwen at this point couldn't catch a solid breath. Orthos' magical feats of torture were beginning to take its toll upon her. Mustering with what little strength she had left in her, Gwen began to plead frantically, begging for him to stop. She knew that it was her one last stitch effort to stay alive. But, in the front of her mind, she also knew that he was far beyond simple reasoning. Being so close to death was now clouding her more rational side.

Orthos' smile grew even wider when he heard her strained voice, and in the end, chose to ignore her. If he had the means to choose between infinite amounts of endless power over her own pitiful and meaningless life, well, he knew what he already wanted, and sadly Gwendolyn did not matter.

She never did…

…And there was no going back…

"_Please_". Gwen choked out once more, her voice betraying her; it only coming out in short, rapid breaths.

Orthos just laughed over his hoarse undertone, and continued on, already making his choice over her fate. This was it. This was going to be his glorious day, when the whole world was going to crumble at his feet. All were going to his bidding, or suffer death to those who dared to challenge or defy him. He quietly smiled to himself in wonderment. No… Not just the world. Not just here… Universes abound would soon fall under his hand, rulers would tremble, and beg him to let them live, begging him for his mercy.

The dark empowered knight was on his last chant, his heavy form floating effortlessly in mid air. Blood red and magenta streams of manna circled all around them, his dark brown orbs turning into a bright shade of crimson. The walls around him and the anodite began to shift as his words flowed smoothly like silk from his bilingual tongue, as Gwen lied below him, barely breathing; clinging to life.

**XX**

Ben, Kevin and Max rounded and entered another walk way, fearing the worst. They hadn't heard Gwen's elevated voice echoing throughout the halls for over a half an hour. Defeating the last arachnoid beast put them severely behind in their retorts on retrieving their friend, and it was beyond any forms of comfort.

In reality, it was chilling them all to the core.

Running and turning through more confusing dark tunnels, Max absent mindedly shifted his attention down at his hip, suddenly coming to realization; it hitting him in the chest like a rock, and he stopped himself quickly to a feverish halt, his face paling as he grasped the energy signature devise that hung snuggly at his side.

It didn't take long for Ben and Kevin to notice the old man's sudden change in attitude, and in his pace. This made Kevin back track his way over to the experienced plumber he had looked up too for well over five years. "What is it?" He asked harshly, his eyes narrowing at the man, as Ben too stood out in concern for his grandfather, right at the ex-con's side.

"I…" Max stumbled over his words, his eyes shifting between the tool and the boys. "Her…" He still couldn't get the words out, because if he were to say exactly what was going down at that moment, he knew it would tear the team apart.

"Grandpa." Ben breathed just above a whisper, knowing already that this was about Gwen, and _only _Gwen; that her life energy signature was no longer reading on the devise. "No, it can't… She's not…"

Kevin twisted his head back and forth, watching as the two exchanged horrified looks, and it didn't take him long to come to his own conclusion. He growled inwardly, bearing his teeth, as his heart began to pace at an alarming rate. "NO!" He shouted out, running towards Max, ripping the machine from his hands.

"Kevin." Max sighed, staring back at the raven ex con, his tears threatening to fall. "This isn't-"

"She's not dead!" Kevin glared down at the old man, his fist clenching tightly. "We've gotten so close; there's no way it's gonna end like this!" He then threw the plumbers tool aggressively towards the wall, shattering it into unrecognizable pieces, and turning to face the old man head on. "I won't let it." He cursed, his voice dangerously low, and menacing.

Just as the devise hit the rocky surface, it abruptly began to crumble, breaking away from the steal barriers that held the palace up. Pieces of solid stone shards tumbled onto the floor as the ground beneath them started to quake violently under their feet, causing the trio to stumble dramatically around, looking for some sort of support.

"What's going on?" Ben squealed out in fear, grasping a random ledge, as did his comrades. Max and Kevin were about to say that they weren't for certain as to what was going on, but all their questions were soon answered as a mixed concoction of reds and pinks enveloped the corridors around them.

"Gwen!" They all thought in unison. But not a single word was spoken as their actions screamed louder than their voices could carry, each plumber bracing themselves, and racing towards the ominous beams of light. Dodging, and ducking debris, as each one hoped silently that once they had reached their destination, Gwen would still be alive.

After a few falls, jumps, and strides from our heroes, they finally reached their point of entrance and broke through the small opening that had been constructed during the sporadic quake of the castle. Ben had entered in first, with Max and Kevin not far behind.

Taking in their surroundings once more, their eyes fell upon a heartbreaking scene before them. There, on a circular table lied Gwen, with Orthos hanging just above her unmoving form. Colored streams of energy were entering his body, and it looked as though that Gwen wasn't even breathing, informing the trio of their worst fears; that she may have lost the battle to stay alive.

No… They weren't going to think it. They were never going to let it.

Without so much as a second's hesitation, Ben reached for his watch and slammed down on the dial, hard. Max steadied himself, and his alien tech artillery, while Kevin absorbed some foreign metal located just behind Ben. It looked solid, and reliable enough, and to be honest, with the situation at hand, it was neither the time, nor the place to be generally picky.

"NRG!" A deep Russian voice echoed out harshly, causing Orthos to automatically turn swiftly to his left, his hands and body still in the workings of absorbing what little amounts of manna Gwen had available in her.

NRG engaged his metallic hands up to the front, shooting elongated beams of what looked to be hot lava, knocking Othros, and his concentration to the ground with a loud 'thud'. Not giving the man a chance to make a defensive action, the liquid powered alien sent another round of burning magma towards the fallen villain, forcing him against the table that his cousin was for now, being held prisoner on.

Orthos grunted in pain, grasping his charred, tin covered stomach; but quickly came to his feet, and with a simple flick of his wrist, he angrily chanted, "Patefacio viral scriptorium!"

In a matter of mere seconds, a large glowing portal had opened, blinding all who were in the room, the heroes could only look on in shock as a few more Arachniod creatures emerged from within it, hissing and crackling at their leader, waiting for their master's instructions.

Kevin grounded his teeth, and turned towards Ben, and Max, wanting to know what the next course of action was going to be. Not only did they have to deal with an empowered demon named Orthos, but now they had three more Arachnoid annoyances to deal with. Gwen didn't have that kind of time on her hands. They needed to, in some way reverse the spell that would bring all of her life energy back to her, defeat Orthos, and the three newer, more aggressive additions that were added to the mix.

The whole thing deemed more than impossible to make a successful victory.

Orthos stood up from the ground, dusting off his metallic attire. "YOU," He pointed a finger towards Ben and his team, "should never have come here!" He bellowed out, his eyes all aglow, as he levitated in to the air. "Doesn't matter, I have enough of what I need to finish you off." He turned his attention to the howling creatures standing at his right, and grinned. "Kill them."

The beasts charged on command, one of them knocking NRG to the floor with very little effort, and pinning him down with one swift movement of its leg. The metal alien let out a hard groan as he tried to use his strength to lift the creature off from his chest. Having no real success with that plan, NRG finally resulted in using more liquid magma, aiming for the beast's vulnerable undercarriage, and letting the lava flow from his fingertips.

The giant bug squealed out in tremendous pain, the lava burning its way onto the inside of its stomach, causing the alien creature to fall almost instantly. NRG took to his feat, and seeing that Max was dodging the other Arachnoid's acidic blows. Ben then remembered that Grandpa Max was only equipped with only simple alien artillery, and ran to go help fight by his side. There was just no way that the old man was going to win against the bug using such a weapon that had no lasting effects on the creatures to begin with.

**XX**

Kevin stood his ground as the last of the three charged his way, in the ready by make-shifting his arms into elongated swords. During the man's distraction, and without warning, the giant bug quickly lowered its jagged jaw, biting down onto the ex-con, clipping his shoulder. Then, in a matter of minutes, the arachnoid lifted him up with little effort, flinging the man hard against the adjacent wall.

Running on pure adrenaline, Kevin hadn't felt the acidic burn from the beast's bite, or for that matter, the pain he received from hitting a solid stone surface. Bringing himself swiftly up from the dampened floor, the beast quickly realized the man's movement of life; that it had done very little damage, and it began hissing out an ear piercing shriek, lunging itself forward once again at the raven haired man. Kevin dodged to his left, and growled up at the Arachnoid, swinging his arms over and around to try and hit in the exact spot to bring it down to its knees . "You should try harder!" He raged on, as the monster spit more acidic bombs his way. Kevin followed the blaze of muck, and looked behind him with a grin. "It'll take a lot more than that to take me out, big ugly!"

…And at that, Kevin had wasted no time in charging right back.

**XX**

NRG finally reached his Grandfather's side, pushing the older man behind him protectively. "Go! I will take care of this snot blowing beast!"

Max furrowed his face in response, and was about to say that he had a handle on the situation, and instead, to go and try to help free Gwen. That is, until NRG beat him to the punch. "Go, while Orthos is distracted with the fight!"

Without argument, Max nodded in agreement, and backed himself into the shadows of the castle. "Out of sight, out of mind." He mumbled, working his way over closer to his granddaughter.

Peering around a pillar, Max was estimating all of his options. Orthos was only a few feet away from Gwen, and any slight noises or mistakes on his part; he had no doubt that the man would turn on a whim, and kill Gwen on the spot, with or without all of her energy. As the devil himself had mentioned prior, he had just enough of her manna to fulfill most of his dangerous desires anyway. So Gwen really was no longer important.

Max leveled his eyes onto the young red head, and waited to see if there were any signs of life radiating off of her. When he had seen her chest slowly rise and fall, he knew right then that Orthos hadn't finished her off. He was overjoyed with relief. Keeping his happiness at bay for the moment, he got down onto his hands and knees, and crawled towards his headstrong granddaughter, smiling to himself despite the fact that he and the others' were at war.

Gwen still lied unmoving, and at this point she was still somewhat conscience. She was just afraid to make even the smallest type of gesture. She knew her rescuers were there, but she didn't want to give alarm to Orthos . The less focus he had on her, the better her chances were at survival. Quickly opening her eyes upon hearing a short scuffle coming out from beneath her, the crimson haired girl slowly mustered up all the energy that she had left by gracing her paled, worn out face with a tiny smile. "Grandpa." She whispered weakly. "You…"

"Shhh" He held a finger up to his lips to hush her; to help save some of her strength. "It's going to be alright, sweetheart." He grinned, sliding his hand into a medium sized bag he had attached to his side. "I brought you a little something." He finished, while cutting her hands free, then handing her a small leathered bound book. "Figured this would come in handy."

Even though as weak as she was, Gwen shakily grabbed the book quietly from her Grandfather's hand, knowing automatically to which page she needed to turn to for the correct spell. "Thanks, Grandpa." She breathed in deeply, her lungs feeling quite heavy with each intake of air.

Max gently held up his hand to her cheek with a grin on his face. "No need to thank me, Pumpkin." He sighed with relief. "I'm just thankful that you-"

Only Max was interrupted yet again by Kevin being slammed up against another wall once more, his outcry of pain evident in his tone of voice. Max turned to Gwen with a torn look about his face that asked silently if she was ready and able handle something like this, and if she had it in her to try and take Orthos out for good. She nodded willingly, and with a squeeze of her hand, Max crawled his way back over towards the battlefield.

Orthos was laughing maniacally as NRG rounded on him with more liquid magma, trying his best to get the dark magician to let Kevin go. But the man was more than enjoying the ex-con's pain, and plowed another spot of his dark manna towards the metal alien, knocking him to the ground.

"You're all pathetic!" He spat, his venom dripping with distain, as he slammed Kevin hard against the stone floor by just his mere thoughts alone. Kevin only grunted in response, breathing heavily as he slowly looked up to the man who as of late, made Gwen's life beyond miserable, and unbearable.

There was no doubt that Kevin wanted his revenge. But it was obvious to everyone, that if Orthos could bring down Ben with just a simple snap of his finger, there was little chance the raven haired hero was going to be able to take the psychotic man out. Flickering his eyes over to the sudden movement he had witnessed from the corner of his right eye, Kevin then noticed that Gwen was slowly coming too. Bringing a hidden smile upon his cold hearted features, the raven haired hero knew right then and there that she was going to make it out of this fiasco alive.

Wanting to keep Gwen's sudden awakening a secret, Kevin then decided to go for what he normally did best…

… Insulting people.

"Hey moron." Kevin began, wiping the blood that was dripping from his lower lip, gaining Orthos' attention almost immediately. "That girly smack down you did to my face just now… Was that supposed to hurt me or somethin?" He chuckled a bit more under his breath, as he pushed himself up from the castle floor. "Cuz, I didn't feel a damn thing."

Orthos grinned in amusement, and raised his hands up for the final impact towards Kevin's undeniable death. Mumbling a simple equation of spells, Orthos' fingertips began to ignite, sparks sputtered and spat as his power grew within his palms; setting his aim dead center at the ex-con's head. Death for the younger plumber would be quicker than Orthos would have liked, but at least Kevin would no longer be the major thorn that stuck in his side.

Orthos lowered his hands to take Kevin out, the power within him flowing off his hands effortlessly; ready to strike at his enemy. Kevin winced automatically, waiting for the impact of his doom. But, it never came. All the man heard before reopening his eyes, was Orhtos.

Letting out a terrible, earpiercing howl, Orthos suddenly felt the most agonizing pain shooting from behind him. A beam of magenta light had directly gone into his back. It almost seemed as though the power within him was slowly losing its momentum. As if he were now being drained himself. Falling to the floor, and clutching his chest, Orhtos slowly crawled his way around, facing towards the source of his downfall. His dark orbs widened in disbelief.

"Gwen!" He shouted out in anger, raising his left hand in the air, as lighter sparks escaped from the tips of his fingers.

Not holding back, Gwen shouted out another spell, knocking Orthos through a brick wall, sending him down the corridors of his fortress; her energy, growing stronger by the seconds.

Orthos groaned out in pain, trying to get up onto his knees. Looking up towards the shadow that hovered above him, Orthos let out a menacing chuckle. "My, my… Did we get braver over the years, Gwendolyn." He croaked, as he spat blood from his busted mouth. "Two years ago, if I remember correctly, you'd never act so stupid, and carelessly."

"Save it!" The red head hissed with venom in her tone. "Never again, Orhtos." Her eyes narrowed down at him, glowing with power.

"And what's that my dear…" Orthos cocked his head to the side, almost as if he were toying with her. "What is it that I'll never do… Again?" At this, the man began to stand. His balance awkward from the blow he received moments prior. Even after all he went through so far, he was still trying to get inside of her mind, finding ways to distract her.

But this time, it was different, and Orthos new it deep down within his cold stone heart. He was just trying to buy himself some time.

"Hurt me." Was all Gwen simply said, as she began chanting her spell. One so strong and meniachle, that it would most likely destroy all that were around them. But, she didn't care. All she wanted was this devil of a beast to be gone from her life, and to those lives she cared most about. As long as they were safe? She didn't care.

Her body began to shed a bright magenta hue, her eyes glowing an eye burning light. Her hands began to form colors of purples and pinks. The skin tone she wore faded into nothing. The ground began to shake beneath Orhtos feet, as pink streams of manna flew harshly into his body…

Orhos cried out in horror. His body was now being torn into molecules of flesh. His head tilted upward towards the sky, as his voice echoed throughout his fortress. The trio of plumbers rushed in as they saw Gwen performing her chant, showing no signs of mercy.

"Gwen, STOP!" Ben cried out, running after her. He needed to get to her, rationalize with her. It made it that much harder since the caverns and the floor were breaking apart by the seconds. Ben stumbled over his feet a few times, getting frustrated with himself. He had to stop his cousin. Before she made any decisions she would soon regret. "GWEN!"

But Ben's cries went unnoticed. Gwen didn't even flinch at his words.

"Ben! We need to get out of here now!" Grandpa Max shouted over the noise of rock falling around them. "We're going to get killed if we stay here much longer!" He gasped as he grabbed a wall to steady himself, his brow narrowing towards the boy.

"Were not leaving, Gwen." Kevin spoke up, his jaw closing tightly with rage from the thought. "She'll die too." His voice running horse, as the words escaped from his lips. "And we all know that I'm not gonna let that happen."

"I've gotta plan!" Ben motioned over to his comrades, signaling for their attention. "Just follow my lea-

But the hero never got the chance to finish his idea of bringing Gwen down, as a deafning explosion crashed into their ears, forcing them all to go air born…

Everything that they knew at that moment, suddenly faded into black.

**XX**

Ben was first to open his eyes; the sun being too bright to open them to their full extent. He looked around at his surroundings for a moment, noticing that Grandpa and Kevin were close by. They were both still knocked out from the harsh pink blow. Arising to his feet with a grunt, the hero slowly made his way over to his friends, checking for a pulse.

They were still alive….

Poking and prodding them awake, Ben helped the other two men get to their feet, all dusting the castle rock from their clothes. Though badly cut in some places from the hard fall, and the explosion, they were all thankful to still be alive.

But they were still one person short… Where was-

"Gwen!" Ben sputtered out in fear, spinning around swiftly, and running as fast as he could towards the rubble. "Where's Gwen!"

Kevin and Max too, ran over to the debris, checking frantically under the many rocks, boards, and pieces of glass that had been annihilated from Gwen's powers. The three of them lifting each stone, and wood without care, all in hopes of hearing any cries of life coming from Gwen.

Lifting a well burned ceiling prong that fell from above, Kevin had made the discovery of Gwen's lifeless body, his hands shaking due to the fact of seeing her lacking any signs of life.

His eyes burning with rage, Kevin wasted no time into reaching down for her, and pulling her out from the charred ashes of the castle. Trying hard to find his voice, Kevin finally hollered out, "BEN, HERE, NOW!", while he lied her down carefully on the cool morning dewed grass.

Ben and Max rushed over, as Kevin began ripping her already half torn shirt, popping the buttons with his unnerving grasp, getting in the ready to help the poor woman breath in the fresh morning air.

Bearing down onto her chest, Kevin began pumping his hands to a steady rhythm. Trying to jump start her heart. Ben and Grandpa Max stood there, feeling helpless as they watched Kevin desperately slam his fists into her chest, placing his lips harshly over her own, blowing his breath into her lungs, wanting to the red head to just breathe.

Two minutes into giving the girl C.P.R. The ex-con was growing more than impatient…

"Just breath damn it!" Kevin growled out, after he clasped his lips over hers, while still pressing his palms to her chest. "Gwen?" He hissed, sweat dripping from his midnight colored brow. "Come on, babe, answer me, swear at me, hit me, do something!"

"Kevin." Ben choked out, as he stepped over to the man sadly, while making the mistake of looking over towards his Grandfather. The old man was alive and well as they were, but, had paled as if he just died.

"Kevin." The hero said again, this time resting his hand on the man's shoulder. "She.."

"NO!" The Osmosian shouted in defiance, his voice echoing throughout the air, pushing the young hero away with much aggression. "I'm not givin' up, not yet! She still has a chance!" He said hoarsely, his hands now moving her chest up and down again. "She still has a chance." He whispers to himself, blowing into her lifeless lips once more.

"You need to stop, Kevin." Ben pressed on with falling tears framing his cheeks, stepping back from Kevin a little just in case the man began to swing at him again. "Gwen wouldn't want this."

"No… She wouldn't." Kevin huffed back with the heaviest of venom. "She'd wanna be here, with you, and with your Grandpa."

Ben decided right then, to try and pull Kevin away. It was doing more damage than good towards the man. He knew Gwen was gone… He just needed to make his best friend realize it too. She saved them all, and had finally taken Orthos down, along with his powers and the Arachnoids. All were no longer existing, all were no longer hurting those Ben cared so much about. He would be forever in debt to Gwen. If he could bring her back, or exchange places with her? He would, in less than a single heart beat…

He just needed for Kevin to let her go…

Reaching for the man's shoulder once more, his hand at a tighter grip than before, he steadied himself to rip Kevin away from her. It was time. It was over… Gwen was ultimately, an undeniably gone…

But it was at that moment when he reached for Kevin shoulder, Gwen finally had gasped for her first intake of fresh air.

Gwendolyn was still alive…. She still had that chance; just as Kevin had promised.

**This one gave me soooo much trouble! Please forgive me that this update is so late… Writers block stinks!**

**Thanks for reading guys! And please leave a review! I'll love ya forever! :D**

**The Spoon. :D**


	10. Chapter 10

**EPILOGUE**

Beeping from the monitors was the only sound being made as Kevin, Ben, and Grandpa Max sat in Gwen's hospital room. The emotions in the room hung like a thick fog after a cool morning rain. No words were spoken- Only silence and Gwen's ongoing heart rate.

Kevin sat by her bed side, his expression broken and cold; holding her hand close to his face, her finger pads delicately held upon his lips- wishing for any kind of a miracle that she would wake up and slap him.

He felt he deserved far worse than that from her.

"Kevin…" Max's rusty voice broke the eerie dead quiet; his hand lightly squeezing the raven haired plumber's left shoulder. "We should go and get something to eat. You could use the nourishment."

"Not hungry." Kevin spat, shrugging the older man's hand off with a bit of force. He was angry; angry at himself, angry that he couldn't stop all that had transpired only a few hours ago. Gwen deserved better. She had the whole world at her fingertips and now, she was here, stuck in a plumbers base hospital bed. With wires, and hooked up to machines.

The sight was more than Kevin could take. But he held out strong, for her…

"Kevin." Max pressed on a bit more. He knew that the man would fight and argue until he was blue in the face, or dead before he'd leave a friends side when they needed him the most. That's what Grandpa Max liked most about Kevin. The ruffian ex con had come a long way since him and Ben were kids, and Max couldn't be any more proud of the boy. But that didn't mean Kevin had to act stupid either. He needed food just like everybody else. It had been over a day since they last ate. "Look, Kevin. I promise you she won't go anywhere while were gone, besides… The cafeteria is just down one level. We won't be far."

"I said I'm not hungry." This time, Kevin put some ice on that statement. It was running with so much venom that it gave Ben chills up and down his spine. That was when the younger plumber walked over getting in between his Grandpa and best friend. He saw the stern look on Grandpa Max's face. Ben knew his Grandpa was used to giving orders with people obeying, and the old man didn't like getting back lashed in this way. He was after all a high ranking officer.

Well, he used to be anyways.

"We'll just bring you something back, Kevin." Ben said, as he hastily grabbed his Grandfather by the arm, earning himself a hard glare from the experienced plumber, and continued. "Is there anything in particular that you wanted?"

"Whatever." Kevin said with little emotion, his eyes were practically burning a hole into Gwen's soul at this point. He couldn't look anywhere else. What if she blinked, or her fingers wiggled just a tad bit and he missed it? What if that's all she would do before she'd- before she may-

Kevin bit down on his lower lip, and hung his head. His eyes squeezing shut ever so tightly. Choking back what he thought he'd never, ever see himself doing.

Crying.

A single tear did slip away from him, flowing effortlessly down onto the girl's delicate hand before it dried into her skin- into oblivion.

Kevin's hands were cold, and shaking. But, he just had to be strong; he had to stay positive. Gwen was hurt badly. So much so, that the Doctors claimed her to be in a coma like state- too soon to actually tell if she were to pull through it all. It crushed the three men. Max fell to his seat in the hall way, his face battered and torn with emotion. Ben reacted almost the same way, except he didn't hold in his sorrow and heartbreak towards his cousin. It crushed them both. Kevin stood there, and said nothing. Only the anger of his guilt for not doing more for her consumed him. It was his fault. It was all-

"My fault Gwen." Kevin's rage finally escaped him. Not in a violent manner, but in more of a broken one. "I should've done more. Been faster, stronger…. Had more of a plan to get you outta there."

Kevin didn't even realize that Max and Ben had left room. He just let it all go with or without having an audience behind him. It really didn't matter to him anymore. What mattered was that she had to wake up. Wake up and look at him. That's all he was asking for.

"I don't get it." Kevin continued on, gripping her hand tighter under his own grasp, shifting his weight slightly in his chair. Even his body had grown numb from sitting there for so long. "Why is it, when I get even remotely close with something that it's always in some way or another taken away from me? It doesn't matter what it is."

Kevin raised his free hand, and brushed away a stray tear. "And no matter how hard I try to keep it safe, it never seizes to amaze me that I somehow fail miserably in one way or another and lose it. I mean, seriously. You, Ben, and everybody else should just lock me away forever or somethin', because in the end, somebody always ends up hurt, destroyed beyond recognition, or.. Or worse, I guess."

Kevin looked down at the crimson girl's expressionless features. Never in all his life had he wanted someone to wake up so badly. Since the day they met, Kevin had felt some uncontrollable force saying that he needed her in around in his life. Whether it be that they had just stayed friends, or, something with a lot more meaning than that.

He knew what he wanted. It was now all up to her to make it a reality. Kevin just wished she could be around to hear what he had to say instead of her out cold in the bed she lied in.

It just wasn't fair.

"And I just wanted you to know that no matter what happens I'll never forget you. I'll never just let you slip from my mind I.. I.. *mumble* Christ, Gwen!" Kevin ran his fingers through his grubby midnight locks; he hadn't even showered from the battle they were in with Orthos. "Would you just wake up!" The raven haired plumber was now standing up from his chair losing all of his self control.

"This is bullshit!" He flung his arms into the air, letting go of Gwen's hand abruptly. The chair had fallen over due to the force of him standing up so hard; hitting the wall and scratching it. "I mean, why should you have to be here? Huh? Why should I have to sit there and look at you hoping that whoever's out there will help ya get your ass out of that bed. It's not like it's hard! Just open your eyes and beat the crap outta me! Okay? I'm right here. Just raise your arm, wave that girly pink stuff you call powers, and knock me on my ass where I belong! Can you do that! I'm not asking for much here! Just…. do something damn it!"

Kevin turned his gaze back onto Gwen. Still, she had not moved, blinked or wiggled a single digit.

Kevin rushed back to the girl's bedside, bending down to his knees, brushing a stray crimson lock of hair from her face. "Look... Gwen… I know it's not much, and it may not even mean anything to you. For all I know you probably can't even hear me, and it's too soon to say it- or whatever, but, I can't let you go without you not knowing it, alright. I mean. It's a lot for me, y'know? What I'm tryin' to say here is that-"

Why was he feeling so nervous all of a sudden? He had it somewhat planned out in his head, somewhat knowing of what all he wanted to say to her. It should've been easier. She wasn't awake, but now, he was frozen at a standstill. He knew what he wanted to say, but his mouth wouldn't carry the words. Why? Why now of all things?

Once again Kevin felt that he had failed her, and let out a defeated and heavy sigh…

"I don't deserve you." The ex con deflated, making his way up from the cool hospital floor. He was going to leave now. She didn't need him. She could do a thousand times better- a person to protect her as much as she needed them to. A person who would have no problems telling her how they felt.

Kevin couldn't even do half of those things. If he did, she wouldn't even be in this situation in the first place.

The raven haired man moved a little towards the door of her room before he tried let go of her hand. But something was keeping him from letting it go in the first place.

Kevin looked down and realized that she was squeezing him as hard as she could. He didn't move. He was afraid to move. If he moved, Kevin thought he'd screw it all up again and put her back into her deep, unwanted slumber.

His mouth tried to form more words, but the only one that would be anything recognizable was her name.

"Gwen?" Kevin choked out, not really sure still if he should move. She squeezed his hand again, and again, and again, this time, reassuring the man that it was absolutely okay to move.

Kevin didn't hesitate, and rushed back by her side, intently looking at her beautiful face to see any more signs of life. Her rose tinted lips shifted slightly, and the man took notice quickly.

"Com'on, babe." Kevin breathed, his body shaking with excitement and with small amounts of fear. He wasn't sure where this was all going- not yet. "Open your eyes, Gwen. Please, just… Open those gorgeous green eyes."

Gwen's eyes were twitching, working, and trying to find their way towards the light of the hospital room. She squinted, as her face squirmed at the action of just trying to open them. To Kevin, it looked as though someone had glued them shut.

That still didn't stop Kevin from encouraging her to open them none the less. He wanted to see those sparkling green orbs of beauty. He had been missing them and her for so very long- Looking into her eyes right now would mean the world to him.

At this point- any actions from her would.

Kevin looked on eagerly, making sure that he was with her in every step of the way.

Finally, Gwen's eyes opened. Finally, he saw her come alive once again. Though dull from her being badly wounded, her green pools were just as beautiful like the first day they had met.

"Gwen." Kevin choked, pulling her hands up to face once again. "You freakin' scared the shit out of me, y'know that?"

Gwen forced a genuine, tiny smile. It was all she could do for the moment.

"And for future reference?" Kevin continued, brushing his fingers through her thick, red hair. "Don't you EVER do that to me again."

Gwen just lied there and smiled. She knew he cared. She knew he liked her more than he was letting on. So much so, that she felt it may have even been love. In fact, she had heard the whole escapade Kevin threw just moments before she woke.

So, being the nice little smart ass that she was; she finally gathered the strength to speak her mind. Throat dry and sore, she swallowed down hard, and watched as Kevin stared on at her in eagerness. Waiting to hear anything of what she had to say.

"You…" She croaked, her words raspy and cracked. Kevin had to lean in closer to understand her. Not that he minded the closeness.

"Are an idiot." She finished. Earning herself a cold and confusing glare from Kevin.

"What?" The raven haired man said in disbelief.

"Just say it." Gwen grinned, her eyes slowly moving up and down, her breathing low, and shallow. Even though she had been out, she still didn't feel well rested. She was quite weak from her ordeal.

"Say what?" Kevin asked looking totally confused. Where was Gwen going with this? It's not that she-

Kevin's face suddenly lost all of its color. His brow began to drip with perspiration. "You… You heard me?" Kevin asked, his voice cracking up just as Gwen's did moments prior.

All Gwen could do was nod. Her throat was tired after just those few words. She wasn't thirsty per say- only worn down.

Kevin swallowed hard, and nervously rubbed his hands together. "Gwen… I-" He looked down towards his lap. He couldn't look at her straight faced. It was too hard.

"Coward". Kevin thought to himself.

"Because I know I love you too, Kevin." Gwen grinned, placing her delicate hand right on top of Kevin's. "And It doesn't matter if you can't say it right now… I already know that you love me back."

Kevin peered up towards the girl with a grateful, and yet an all too relieved smile upon his once feared features. Tears threatening to fall at any given moment from both of the two star crossed lovers.

And all Kevin could do at that moment was kiss her…

Gently, he took her face and pulled her in close, carefully, so he wouldn't hurt her; and placed his lips upon her own. Showing her through motions of just how much he truly loved her, and that she was alive.

Ben looked in from the window as he stood in the hallway- Grandpa Max was sitting in the chair just below his feet grinning from ear to ear.

The super hero sighed to himself, and let out a small chuckle as he watched Kevin finally find happiness…

…With his cousin…

Yeah…

How the whole thing wanted to make him puke.

**Not the best epi in the world, but… Eh… I did try. I swear!**

**I wanted to thank EVERYONE who read, read and reviewed, faved, and alerted this story. You guys are such wonderful people, and ever so patient with me. Thank you THANK YOU!**

**...And even though this is the last chapter folks, I'd still love to hear from you! PLEASE, PLEASE review?**

**Lots of love!**

**The Spoon. :D**


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